'The wrath,' says St. Paul, 1 Thess. ii. 16. is come on them to the utmost, eis réλos, 'to the end,' to the very last dregs of the cup of fury. Let every church which boasteth of favors bestowed, and privileges conferred on her, remember the consequences of their being abused by Jerusalem; and let every individual do the same.

25. Their habitation shall be desolate, and none shall dwell in their tents.'

Our Lord seems to have had this passage in his view, when he said to the Jews, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate:' Matt. xxiii. 38. Jerusalem was by the Roman armies destroyed from the foundations. It hath been since indeed rebuilt, and inhabited by Gentiles, by Christians, and by Saracens, but no more by the Jewish people. It is remarkable, that this verse is applied, Acts i. 20. to Judas, considered as the head and representative of that apostate nation, which rejected and delivered up its Prince and Saviour to be crucified. 'He was guide to them that took Jesus' Acts i. 16. The punishment therefore, as well as the sin of Israel, is portrayed in his person, and the same prophecy is applicable to him and to his countrymen.'

26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded."

The cause of the foregoing calamities, inflicted on the Jews, is here assigned; namely, that instead of mourning and sympathising with Messiah, in the day when Jehovah laid on him the iniquities of us all, and afflicted him for our sakes, they, by reproaches and blasphemies, aggravated his sufferings to the uttermost; and afterwards continued to use his disciples in the same manner. It were to be wished, that the sorrows of the penitent, when wounded with a sense of sin, never subject him to

'Fiat habitatio eorum deserta'--De Juda proditore exponitur, Act. i. 20. Congruit etiam Judæis, eversa Hierosolyma, quod Christus prædixerat: Ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.' Luc. xiii. 35. BOSSUET.

2 Datur his in verbis ratio longe maxima et gravissima, propter quam Judæi terra sua essent ejiciendi, ac nomine et prærogativis populi Dei privandi, quia nimirum eum persequuntur, quem a Deo percussum' vident, hoc est, quem vident ira Divina maximopere pressum, et ad summa ádnuovíav redactum. VITRINGA, Observat. Sacr. lib. ii. cap. 9..

the scorn and contempt of those who would be thought Christians.

27. Thou wilt add iniquity to their iniquity; and they shall not come into thy righteousness.'

As they added affliction to the afflictions of Christ, so God permitted them to go on, blinded and deserted, in their wickedness, adding sin to sin,' filling up the measure of their fathers, still obstinately refusing to come into the church, and partake of the righteousness' which is by faith. From all thy judgments, good Lord, deliver us; but, above all, from that which punishes one sin with another, and seals up the reprobate to destruction.

28. They shall be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.'

6

By the book of the living,' in which the names of the righteous are written,' is to be understood the register of the true servants and worshippers of God, of those who are 'justified,' or made righteous,' through faith. In this register, the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the ancient fathers of the Israelitish race, with their true children, stand recorded; but the degenerate and apostate Jews have been long since 'blotted out;' they are no longer the peculium of heaven; nor have they any part or portion in the inheritance of the sons of God. Thus Ezekiel They shall not be in the assembly of my people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel' xiii. 9. And our Lord, in his conversations with the Jews, took every opportunity to tell them, that they, for their unbelief, should be cast out,' and that the Gentiles, obeying the call of the Gospel, should come from all quarters of the world, and sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.'

29. But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy saving health, O God,' or, thy salvation shall, or, can, 'set me up on high.'

Messiah returns to the subject of his own sufferings, which were not a little enhanced by the consideration,

Deserendo, et permittendo, non operando; ut Theologi norunt. BOSSUET.

that so many of his people would not be the better for them. I am poor and sorrowful;' 'poor,' for he was divested of his very garments; sorrowful,' for he was covered over with stripes and wounds. But he knew the hour was coming, when the salvation of God would raise him from the dead, and set him up on high." Thus should a disciple of Jesus depart out of the world, joyfully relinquishing its goods, patiently bearing its evils, and confidently expecting a resurrection to glory.

30. I will praise the name of God with a song, and magnify him with thanksgiving.'

Here, as in the 22d, and many other Psalms, the scene changes from sorrow to joy; from a state of suffering to one of triumph; from the passion to the resurrection. Jesus, risen from the dead, declares his resolution of praising and magnifying the Father, for the salvation of the world, happily accomplished by his labors and sufferings, which were now for ever at an end. The church does the same incessantly, on earth, and in heaven.

31. This also shall please the LORD, better than an ox,' or bullock, that hath horns and hoofs.'

A bullock was in its prime for sacrifice, under the law, when it began to put forth its horns and hoofs.' The infinite distance, therefore, in point of value, between the best legal sacrifices, and those of obedience, love, and praise, as offered by Christ, and, through him, by his church, under the Gospel, is pointed out in this verse. See Psalm xl. 6. &c. 1. 23.

32. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God:' or be seeking God, and heart shall live. your

It is foretold, that the humble,' or the 'poor in spirit,' i. e. the meek and lowly followers of the holy Jesus, should find everlasting joy and comfort in the glad tidings of salvation; all mankind are exhorted to 'seek after God,' as manifested in the Gospel of his Son; and the reward promised is life spiritual and eternal."

33. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.'

Hæc et sequentia ad redemptionem per Christum, sub figura solutæ captivitatis, videntur pertinere. BossUET.

An argument for our 'seeking after God,' is the experience of patriarchs, prophets, and saints, who in all ages have sought, and found him, by repentance and faith: and that the Lord' despiseth not bis prisoners,' is evident from what he did and suffered, to deliver their souls from the bondage of sin, their bodies from the prison of the grave, and both from the dungeon of hell. Therefore,

34. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and every thing that moveth therein.'

The mercies of God in Christ are such, that they cannot worthily be praised by any thing less than an universal chorus of the whole old and new creation; and what should such a chorus celebrate, but those mercies by which all things have been made, preserved, and redeemed?

35. For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah, that they,' i. e. men,' may dwell there, and have it in possession.'

The salvation and edification of the church followed the passion and resurrection of Christ. God will save Sion,' that is, the church, which at first consisted of the apostles, who were Jews, and others of that nation by them converted to the faith. And build the cities of Judah,' or cause churches to arise in all the world, which shall from thenceforth take the names, and inherit the privileges, of Israel and Judah; that men,' even such as God shall call from among the nations, 'may dwell there,' as citizens of the new Jerusalem, and,' instead of the rejected Jews, have it in their possession.'

36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein.'

The continuation of the church in the posterity of the faithful, is here predicted. Accordingly, the descendants of the proselyted Gentiles have been in possession of the Gospel privileges for above 1700 years. And thus it will be, while they abide in the faith, and 'love the name,' of Jesus. Should the Gentiles apostatise as the Jews did, and the Jews be converted as the Gentiles were, then the Gospel would go from the Gentiles to the Jews, as before it went from the Jews to the Gentiles; then would there come out of Sion the Deliverer, to turn away ungodliness from Jacob.' Rom. xi. 26.

PSALM LXX.

[The words of this Psalm occur, without any material variations, in Ps. xl. verse 13, to the end. The reader is therefore referred thither for the exposition; as before, in the case of the 53d and 14th Psalms.]

FOURTEENTH DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.
PSALM LXXI.

ARGUMENT.

The Psalmist, sorely distressed in his old age (see ver. 9. and 18.), by the rebellion of Absalom, which was his great affliction at that period of life, ver. 1. prayeth for the divine assistance; pleading, 2. God's righteousness, 3. and promise; 4. the iniquity of his persecutors; 5. 6. the mercies vouchsafed him from his birth; 7, 8. his being deserted and given up by man; 9. his old age; 10, 11. the taunts and insults of his adversaries: 12. he repeateth his request; 13. prophesieth the downfall of his enemies; declareth, 14. his hope, 15. his gratitude, 16. his faith; 17. 18. wisheth to be preserved, that he might show forth the power and glory of God, whose righteousness and marvellous acts, 19. he extolleth, and thence, 20, 21. promiseth himself a final redemption from all his troubles, and a restoration to honor and comfort; when, 22-24. he shall sing and speak the praises of the Lord.

1. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be put to confusion.'

The promises of salvation are made to those who, res nouncing all confidence in the world and themselves, 'trust' in God alone for it. For this reason the Psalmist so often begins his prayer with a declaration of his 'faith,' which is to the soul in affliction, what an anchor is to a ship in distress.

2. 'Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.'

A second argument, here used, is the righteousness' of God, who cannot but be faithful and just to his own. gracious word. By that word, he had engaged to establish the temporal throne of David, and the eternal