Present Testimony: Volume N2, 1869-1870

THERE can, in one sense, be no true understanding of the nature and value of atonement, but as there is a knowledge of the state of man needing it. If the need be fully seen, then the remedy must be according to it; if only partially seen, the remedy needed will be estimated amiss. Hence, the first point for us to examine is the state and condition of man, in the eye of God; for we may rest assured, that it is an imperfect apprehension of man's state which lies at the root of the general indifference to this subject.

Adam was set in the garden of Eden, in innocence, subject to God; and while he remained in the subjection due from the creature to the Creator, he enjoyed the goodness with which he was surrounded. Against insubjection he was warned, and told that an infraction of the divine restriction (for it was not an exaction but a restriction, one which demanded nothing from him -merely described the line which he must not pass over), would be followed by the penalty of death. His life would be forfeited if he acted in self-will. Adam did not remain subject to the will of God. He acted for himself, Satan being the tempter to the transgression; and the penalty fell upon him. Now death is the penalty, it is the wages of sin; but it is not a penalty which is only endured while passing through it, as would be the case with one inflicted by man; but, because it is inflicted by God, its full extent is not known till after it has been realized, as it is written, " after death the judgment." The sense in my soul, that I die because of a penalty laid on me, in itself, places me under a sense of God's judgment and that for eternity; hence, it is not so much death itself which the sinner shrinks from, as the after-consequences; even judgment from which there is no hope or possibility of extrication. The life is forfeited, and when the forfeit is paid man is then conscious of the nature of the penalty. The suffering is not merely the act of dying, but the consciousness of being under judgment, to which dying consigns one.

Adam's life was forfeited in the state and condition in which he was set here, and dying, he must die; not to escape all suffering afterward, but as a penalty introducing him into a state of suffering. He is now without a life, at least without any real possession of one that he can call his own; for he is insecure and uncertain as to the moment when judgment may begin. His life is forfeited. The forfeit has not been paid, but over a thing forfeited, I have really no claim or power; it is the property of the one to whom it is forfeited. Man cannot count upon his life now for anything; according to God's will it is forfeited, and when the forfeit is paid, the soul enters into judgment. Man's state and condition is now that of having a forfeited life awaiting judgment. God's righteousness demands this, it could not exact less. Man set upon the earth in blessing dependent on the Creator, acts contrary to Him, at the suggestion, of another. This moral anomaly exists. A creature of the highest and most perfect order, setting up a will-a line of action, contrary to God's will. Hence the question, whether man is to be suppressed; or whether God will be indifferent to him as a creature, made in His own likeness, acting in spirit and deed in contravention to His will. If God's will is righteous, man is unrighteous, and can God in righteousness, suffer man to continue in that condition in which he can contravene the righteous will of God? The answer is simple, if it could be so, there would be an end to righteousness. Hence, God forewarned him, that if he should do what He had told him not to do, the penalty would be death, and the penalty of death, as we find by Heb. 9:27, reduces him to a state in which he is conscious of the extent of his loss, and his distance, in judgment, from God. Death for the lost, is only the prison door of one eternal night of misery, where the sense of distance from God is ever maintained in weeping and gnashing of teeth.

We shall now better comprehend the nature of the atonement, which could enable the Holy God to set up man on another footing. To meet, the righteousness of God, there must be a victim, not, in himself, chargeable with our offense, in any way, bearing the penalty of death. But not only this, there must be a personal excellency, over and above the life offered up. The life is offered up, in substitution, and the perfection elicited in the time of offering is that basis, which forms the ground for the re-establishment of man, in another condition. It is evident that man could find nothing of this kind in himself-he could not offer up a life, for he had none to offer, it was forfeited; and there was nothing to be found in him, but what would aggravate the judgment under which he had fallen. Once overtaken by the penalty, he could not be released from it; he had fallen under it. If a sinner has no soul, he is neither conscious of being under judgment nor of being delivered from it; but, if he has, and is to be released from it, the release must take place before the judgment overtakes him.

Abel's offering through faith sets forth the main points of the atonement. It is the primitive offering, and we may conclude that it was the one appointed of God. Abel offered of the firstling of his flock, and of the fat thereof. A. victim not chargeable with its offense, giving up its life, and not only this, but it is added, " and the fat thereof" The blood was the life given in substitution for one who had forfeited his life, and the fat, the acceptable thing on which God could deal anew with the lost one. Now, the sense first awakened in the sinner's soul, is, that there must be something offered between him and God. Even Pagans attest this in their propitiatory sacrifices, and the like; and the law is distinctly on this ground, for it does not simply exact obedience to "a code, which in God's mind is only worthy of man, as His creature, but it insists on the need of the intervention of sacrifices, of many and various kinds, to meet the many and various states of the old man. And this was consistent with the law, for the law addressed man as still alive; but while it did so, it could not over look the sense on the conscience of distance from God and of impending judgment; hence sacrifices and rituals were imposed-until the time of reformation, which could not purge the conscience. On it, there was the sense of judgment before God from which there could be no relief until there was an atonement which would perfectly answer for the life under forfeiture, and judgment, and open out a new way for appearing before God. The law dealt with man as still alive, and hence offerings were repeated, as expressing that there was need for intervention, because that which needed it was still in existence, or recognized as so. If the being under judgment had been superseded by an atonement having been offered, then there must be an end of that which required the atonement. Either the being continues waiting for an atonement and consequently remaining in the state that needs it, as was the case under the law, or the atonement has come and the state of the being needing it no longer remains. Both cannot stand together. If the atonement be a perfect one, it supersedes in the eye of God the being needing it. If it has been accepted, the state of the being needing it does not remain before God for any one connected with the substitute. The law could' not propose that man should be superseded; for if he were, there would be no occupation for the law; and hence while it suffered man to remain in his state, it demanded from the worshipper continual sacrifices which never purged the conscience; because, if they had, they would have ceased to be tiered. The moment the sacrifices effected the end desired, they ceased to be required. The error abroad is, that the atonement is not seen, as setting aside the being under judgment, and consequently there is a sense of needing something expiatory still; which, as I have said, involves two things-one, that the sacrifice is not a satisfactory one, and the other that the state of the being needing atonement still continues before God. The sacrifice is properly the substitution for the being needing it and if a true and sufficient one, then that for which it has been a substitute is not dealt with but the substitute. The substitute must have a life like that of the being to be atoned for, only guiltless, and unchangeable in any way with his offense; and must after proving its faithfulness, in every way, give up this unforfeited life, for the forfeited one, which exposed man to eternal judgment; and not only so but the substitute must be one who has life in Himself, in order that he may rise again as perfectly acceptable to God-as it is said, "raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father."

Christ having so perfectly answered every demand of God, and having borne the judgment on man, pours out His life, at the bottom of the altar, and from thence is quickened by the Spirit, to establish man in His own life forever. In His blood, there is for every believer a substitution for the forfeited life;-for death-that door into the eternal prison;-for man in Christ has no longer a forfeited life, but life in Him who has atoned for him and who has risen out of death and judgment; and hence the life atoned for, does not exist as needing atonement.

The great points for us to see are that the state of man, because of the fall was not remediable because the, life which was forfeited was the very life of the condition in which man was set on earth; and this forfeit was the penalty, only really known after it was paid, and not in the mere act of dying; and hence the substitute for this state cannot repair this forfeited life. The first terms of atonement are that a man's life, sinless, unchangeable, and meeting every demand of God under His judgment is to be given up, before He can do aught else in the way of blessing us. If the life were under probation (and probation could never atone for a state of offense) it would be open to man to repair it. This was the course observed under law. Man is there under trial, and the life is prolonged, judgment is staved off while it is kept. It did not propose to atone, but offered a continuance of life, while its demands were observed, and fir the obedient, it through the sacrifices, intimated that the life was not an acceptable one with God; even though, through obedience, its doom might be respited, as will be fully manifested in the Millennium. But atonement must meet the state as it is. Atonement is positive, and no tentative measure could be atonement. Hence in the paschal lamb, which was an offering instituted before the law, the blood is poured out. This is the first and great thing. This satisfies the eye of God; and He says," When I see the blood I will pass over." The state of man as he is, is met by that blood, typical of Christ's blood-" Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." The blood, meeting the eye of the Judge, atones for man's state. Man's life is forfeited, and here is a life poured out for it. It does not remove the forfeiture, but it removes the consequences of it. The forfeiture has been incurred, and there can be no removal of what has been incurred but there is removal of the consequences; and this removal is effected by the substitute taking the man's place, and being to his judgment bearing the whole weight of it, in man's nature; and then, giving up the life, in substitution, for the forfeited life. One with an unforfeited life, bears all the distance and agony due to the forfeited one, and having perfectly done so, gives the life up. He not only endures all that was due to man for his offense-all the suffering which a forfeited life eternally entailed; but having perfectly and righteously met all this, He gave up the life which was not forfeited; and hence, having answered, not only for the forfeited life, but for its consequences, neither the one nor the other remain to the one who is in Christ. A new path, a new position, is opened out. He has cleared off the old, and now risen, is the head and founder of another race. In the passover, the people of God were safe through the blood shed, but more than this, they were inside, feeding on the very lamb whose blood had saved them. The victim's place exposed the substitute to the judgment

resting on man. For man, death itself was but the door to the state of judgment. Christ bears the judgment, is made sin, put in the sinner's place. He who had no sin, is treated as if He had; and freely, and of His own accord, gives up His unforfeited life. Substitutionally He should die, " not for that nation only, but that he should gather together in one the children of God which are scattered abroad." He gives the unforfeited for the forfeited, after he had endured in Himself before God every agony due to the forfeited life; thus perfecting the atonement. Having been put in the sinner's place, treated as the sinner in suffering, He resigns that life by which He was able to connect Himself with man's state of suffering. He shed His blood and then closed forever the history of man for whom He had atoned. The blood righteously sets free the being who is sheltered in a new life, because he trusts in it, and not in the state which required it, but in that of the Substitute now risen from the dead. As the paschal lamb, I feed on Him, roast with fire. My entire engagement is with Him, and He supports me, as before by His blood He saved me from a judgment due to my life and state.

Under the law we get properly four kinds of offerings, which in their various ways set forth what God required of man. In all but the meat offering the blood was shed. In the burnt offering which set forth the devotedness of Christ offering himself to God, we have the blood sprinkled all round about the altar, and then the offering is offered up. The victim is first accepted as an atonement, the hands of man being laid on it, and then the life is given up. This was necessary even in the case of a burnt sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. In like manner in the peace-offering the blood was sprinkled round about the altar; and it too was an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. The excellency of the victim being the special thing offered, as setting forth the ground and basis of all blessing, and hence giving full rest and peace to the soul before God. Christ's own personal excellence is the food of all the offerings, and the sure guarantee for eternal peace.

Now it is evident, that if God required those under law to meet' the demands of righteousness the first thing is the surrender of life. Even in the burnt and peace offerings, where there is no notice taken of actual sin, the blood was given up,-that is the life of the substitute must be surrendered previous to the acceptance and sweetness of savor accorded to the offering; and this atonement and sprinkling of blood was consequent on the laying on of hands of the man needing it. 1 understand the laying on of hands to imply the attributing of man's state to the substitute. The substitute's life was poured out itself without blemish, but having been charged with man's state, previous to death it surrenders its unblemished life for his, and is accepted in perfect sweetness before God, as outside, and apart from, that life, for which it had atoned. Hence it is, as I understand, that when in Ex. 24:5, the blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings was sprinkled, there was an open way for the Elders of Israel into the presence of God. The atonement is in the blood Lev. 17:11; but it is plain that when the hands were laid on the. victim the penalty and the consequences of that which rested on him who laid his hands thereon were made over to the substitute, Thus Christ was placed under all the weight of man's state. before He died. He suffered because of what was placed to His account. He was made sin, and then poured out His life; and 'presented Himself in His offering capacity in every accept- able way a sweet savor in the very highest degree to God. In the sin offering the blood was not only sprinkled but all of it was poured out at the bottom of the altar; and besides the fat being burnt on the altar the carcass was burnt in a clean place without the camp. That is to say, there was to be no longer an admission of the existence of the being substitutionally represented, in the carcass. There was the excellency of the victim and the giving up of the life of the victim; but with Christ there was also, the suffering of being made sin, the just for the unjust. His death ended before God that order of being which had sinned. He was justified in the spirit, and not in the flesh. He was put to death in the flesh-but quickened-made alive (that is the opposite to death) in the spirit. In the fullness of time, God sent His 'Son, in a body prepared for Him. He was made flesh. and dwelt among us. After thirty years of patient growth, passing through every phase of man's life here below, and fully conversant with it, He comes forth into public ministry, satisfying the long restrained desire of His heart to be about His Father's business; and then, as is recorded in the three first gospels, He went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil-He set forth that there 'was no state or infirmity of man in this present life, which He could not relieve or remove. He raised the dead, expelled devils, healed the leper, gave sight to the blind, cured every disease; and yet with all this, He was not able, in the days of His flesh, to place man in likeness to Himself as God's man on earth. For this He must die; hence He says: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone." It can never produce one like unto itself, unless it dies; but if' it die, it brings forth much fruit. Sad and sorrowful as was His walk and pilgrimage here for thirty three years, He now (John 12:24-28), foresees the terrible season when as the sin-bearer He would enter into the suffering of a sinner's. distance from God. Hence He adds: " Father save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour." He now a man, in man's life, undertakes to bear in Himself from God-all that was due to man. He has walked in every circumstance here well pleasing to God. He has been the Father's delight, in all the ways of a man; and now, as the burnt offering He offers Himself freely without spot to God; surrendering every privilege and power to' which He was entitled, as the Holy One on earth. Unprotected, and unguarded, He is open to all the attacks of men; and exposed to all the malice of Satan; and not only this, but when He takes the place of the victim-in giving up His life,-His unforfeited life,-for man, then the consequences of this falls upon Him on the cross. He endures, trusting in God, bearing in His soul, for a season, the suffering and agony of one consigned by death unto eternal distance from God. Then He trusts, and then He prays; and then is succored, because He had done no wrong, neither was sin found in His mouth. He, in conscious and restored favor gives up the ghost, pours out His life, sheds His blood at the bottom of the altar, but being holy throughout, yea the most perfect sweet savor to God in it all, He does not see corruption; He is not holden of death; He is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; He is quickened in the spirit,-man, alive again, but after a new order; and now the fountain, and source of eternal life, to as many as come unto Him. And in proof of this, He breathes on His disciples, and says, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." He can now impart to us His own life, by and in the power of the Holy Ghost. While He walked here for thirty-three years, however close His contact, however He imparted of His virtues to man, He had never placed man on a level with Himself, as a man here. He still abode alone. The corn of wheat by no amount of contact with men here, had brought any to His own order. The greatest miracle did not effect conversion apart from the word. "Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine?" (Luke 17:17). The one who returns to give glory to God, is the converted one, and the one in whom the word of Christ creates rest and assurance. There was no meeting or remedying the state of man, until the man Jesus Christ placed Himself under the hand of God, as one in Himself utterly and entirely irresponsible for man's state, having first proved in every stage and circumstance of life, that He could walk in the flesh, in every way well pleasing to God, to undergo all that was due to man, and in the searching agony of it, to be proved to the utmost, as to whether any thought for Himself, could arise apart from God. Nothing but self renunciation and simple subjection to God marked Him throughout; and His perfect life-He then pours out. It is not that He pours out the life merely; but He does so, after having exposed Himself to the judgment which the deprivation of life entails. He surrendered the life in which He had thus exposed Himself to judgment; and then, though the one holy perfect man, born of a woman in man's estate, who had been in every way well pleasing to God, having been made sin,-treated as the guilty, offers Himself; sheds His blood, surrenders an existence which righteously He had held, and lived in, and on which there was no claim, as substitution -for that which had been forfeited by man. He had a life which had not been forfeited; but which had endured, in the hour of forsaking, more than any man had endured, in suffering and distance from God. He had a life which was perfect in every way; most pleasing to God; but He gave it up, and before giving it up, endured in it all that was on man-because of his evil and sin. " Now is the Son of man glorified." Having so endured, having glorified God as a man, He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. The life in which He, as a man, had glorified God, and in which He had endured man's judgment, He does not retain-He pours it out. The atonement is in the blood. We are reconciled to God by the death of His Son. The reconciliation is effected. The sinless one has been made sin, and has given up a life which He might have retained, in substitution for a life which was forfeited. But He has glorified God in it all, and hence, He is raised from the dead; we are saved by His life. " If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins." The resurrection is the proof of acceptance, but it is for our justification. That which represented the resurrection in the typical offerings was, I suppose, the fire feeding on the fat. At any rate the fat was the excellency of the animal, and the fire consuming it indicated its acceptance. Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and the resurrection is the proof and evidence that He has indeed offered Himself without spot to God, and that it was impossible that He should be holden of death. But then, having destroyed the power of death and abolished it, He has brought to light life and incorruptibility. In His resurrection, He is the quickening Spirit. He can impart life, His life, to those whose death He has borne. Being reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. He shed His blood for us, and now risen, He is the second man, able to communicate of His life to those, for whom, before He died for them, He could do nothing but relieve. He must die for them where they were, in order to set them in the life in which He is. He must bear their death and its consequences, before He could share with them His life which, is eternal.

The resurrection is the proof that Christ had in everything glorified God, and hence it is for the glory of God that He should rise from the dead. It would have compromised the glory if He had not risen. Having given up His sinless life for man's sinful life, He is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and also declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection is the proof that there was life outside of death. The atonement required a life, not. liable to death, and this, being delivered up, His life, as the Son of God, asserts its place; and it is for the glory of the Father, to raise Him from among the dead; manifesting the mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places. The penalty incurred by man is not only borne, but borne by one in no way liable to it, as the substitute for man. He gives the life which in every step and walk here, was so honoring to God, sacrificially, and more than this-He rises not only because He has life in Himself; but the glory of the Father requires that One so perfect here as a man, and so glorifying God, in submitting fully to all His righteousness, with the end and aim of unlocking the heart of God; giving Him full liberty to deal on new and eternal ground with His people once under condemnation;-the glory of the Father requires, I repeat, that such an one, should be in life again, as a man; though not in the life which He had poured out, but should, without seeing corruption, be raised up in the eternity of His own life.

The first man being under sentence, has received sentence in the cross of Christ, and not only this-a

sinless life is offered for the sinful one;. and He the substitute, being raised from the dead is the source and founder of a new race in eternal life, and perfect holiness. We are cleansed from all sin by the blood of Jesus Christ His Son. We are' made nigh by His blood. Nothing remains to interfere, or interpose, seeing that the life in which all the offense has been committed has been judged in Christ, and that He has given up His perfect unforfeited life, for our sinful forfeited one. But He is raised from being the dead man, into a living man by the spirit of God, in the power of an endless life and the man is on the highest ground, and in the highest connection, glorified now, in the Son who has done all the Father's will, and finished His work. The first man is set aside judicially in righteousness; and the Son of God, who as man met the righteousness of God, and bowed to it in judgment, is the one to express in fullness the love of God. He bore the righteous judgment fully. He when here, in a region where sin abounded, answered to God's nature in righteousness; and He expresses in fullness, and perfection, that nature which is love, when sin has been forever put away.

Blessed Mission I Blessed Missionary to our heart of all the grace and goodness of the living God. As we live by Him, may we live to Him, in joy and purpose of heart. Amen! J. B. S.

David's Piety and the Mind of God

"And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in." -1 CHRON. 17. 3, 4.

A VERY profitable lesson for the present day may be gathered from this chapter, and close dealing with ourselves may prove that we are as prone to carry out our thoughts in service for Christ, as David was in following his own mind in relation to the Ark of the Covenant. Nor is this danger confined to David's times, nor to ours, since Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Ghost. The same limitation of Christ to human expectations was manifested on the mount of transfiguration, when Jesus Himself was in the midst of His disciples. as answered Peter, and said, Lord, it is good for us to be here; let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."

This variance from the counsels of God and the mind of Christ are not confined to the holy mount and the unveiling of the kingdom of glory when Jesus was transfigured before them (excusable then, if ever), but a similar divergence is seen, as regards the sufferings and death of Christ, when Peter began to rebuke his Master, saying, " Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not happen unto thee. But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men." Mary Magdalene and the women at the sepulcher with the spices are further witnesses of how natural it is, at all times, to be behind the thoughts of God in relation to Jesus Christ our Lord. " They entered in and found not His body." The comment which the Holy Ghost makes upon this action is important, as giving the word of God its place, "For as yet they knew not the Scriptures, that he must rise again from the dead."

With such examples and warnings let us turn to consider David in this chapter of Chronicles. The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was of all importance in those days, as the manifest token and witness which connected Israel, as a nation, with the counsels of Jehovah respecting their final establishment in glory upon the earth. All the interests of David's soul were therefore rightly directed to the Ark, and the preceding chapters give us the record of his actings in relation thereto, and its remarkable journey from the house of Abinadab to the city of Zion. Sharp lessons were taught David and his followers at the threshing-floor of Chidon, where the oxen stumbled and shook the ark, and Uzza put forth his hand to hold it, and the anger of the Lord was kindled, and He smote him, so that Uzza died there before God. He who teaches when necessary with a strong hand, instructed David that if God sanctioned the new cart and two milch kine as a mode of transit from the country of the Philistines, who knew Him not, to its own place and people who did, that His own order must be strictly followed when Israel and Jerusalem were in question. David's displeasure against the Lord and David's fear of God (things which exist together in the soul which is not in communion with the thought of God) must be alike judged. David then learns that none ought to carry the Ark of God but the Levites, for them bath the Lord chosen to carry the Ark of God and to minister to Him forever. The shoulders of the Levites must bear this precious burden and witness of Jehovah's covenant with His people, and all goes well to the last step of their journey.

It is of the greatest moment in our intercourse with God to be assured we are of one mind with Himself in the object which governs us, and the glory of which we pursue. In a day like this in which we are living, a day so prolific in ways and means pressed in upon the service of God and of Christ, many a one as devoted as King David, and as earnest as Uzza, might on that very account profitably pause to distinguish between the new cart and the shoulders-of the Levites, and betwixt the two milch kine and God's appointed order by the Holy Ghost in the Church. Many a breach would have been avoided, and many a pending one averted, were such distinctions observed by the Lord's people in reference to Christ and His saints. " None ought to carry the Ark of God but the Levites" was the ancient order of service and worship; but later on the Lord says, " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him." As to service, Paul asks, " What concord hath Christ with 'Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you."

David and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord are at last together, and the interest of David's life and the affections of his soul go out towards it, and rightly, as ours do to Christ, by the Holy Ghost. Shall we be cast down if other and deeper lessons await him as well as us in closer associations with God, according to the varying revelations He makes of Himself.?

Now, " it came to pass as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord dwelleth under curtains." If David takes thought with his own heart he will do what is in it, and make the same mistake as he had just been delivered from, in reference to the mode of bringing up the ark from the house of Obed-edom. Nor is there security at such a moment even in a Nathan, nor in anyone less than the Lord, and the knowledge of His own mind. " Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart, for God is with thee;" but the prophet, as well as the king, have each to learn that the secret of all successful service lies not only in. God being with them; but in their being with God, and in the current of His mind about the work. " And it came to pass the same night that -the word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in." Mere piety, then or now, will suggest a thousand activities in reference to the ark and to Christ, which, if carried out, would only separate us from the intentions of God, who reserves to Himself the establishment of His own glory in connection with His people, and the times and seasons of their fulfillment.

David must not make haste to be a builder, though he may be instructed afterward as to the patterns and splendor of the house reserved for the Solomon days, lest the Lord God of Israel make a breach upon him a second time for that he sought Him not after the due order. " And it shall come to pass when thy days be expired that thou must, go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; he shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne forever."

The persecution of Saul, the cave of Adullam, the rejection of David, and the Ark of the covenant in its migratory character, or under curtains when in Zion, were all in agreement and in perfect keeping with the purposes of God, who orders everything according to the counsel of His own will. What striking and exact types are all these of a greater than David as known to us in these last times. Foreshadows of our Lord's persecution by the prince of the earth, and of the world's rebellion against its rightful King, of the Lord's rejection by Israel, and of His crucifixion by the hands of wicked men. What a type of this present period, when all above and below is under curtains or stained by blood. The Lord hidden in the heavens and our life hid with Christ in God; the cast out One of the earth set down on His Father's throne till the day when God shall make His enemies a footstool for His feet, and He shall rule in their midst. The time of David was judged- unsuitable for building a temple, because he had shed blood. So when Jesus was on the earth He justified Himself for the supposed violation of the Sabbath, and of Israel's day of rest, on the same tooting as David when he entered into the house of God and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful. With whom coUld he keep a Sabbath, or a rest, in a world like this, into which He came in grace as a Savior to redeem His own out of it? Can God build a temple by the side of the cross, where His Son was rejected, and His blood cries for vengeance?

Many a Christian, sitting in his own house like David, may think of a rest in creation, and if so he will make God's providential mercies the guide of his thoughts, and labor for an extension of the same character of blessing and seek to make. God at home on the earth, as it is. All the world would consent to bring God back as a giver, and admit Him as the author of all good to men as they are, provided He will let them enjoy themselves. This was plainly shown in John 6, after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when the multitude would have come and taken Him by force to make Him a king, but " he departed again into a mountain himself alone." But let a Christian leave his own house and get outside his own circle of pious and philanthropic enjoyments, and go in, as David did, " and sit before the Lord," to learn that God has His own range of operations, and that Christ is the rule of His action as regards His own glory and the everlasting blessing of the redeemed, and at that very moment (so to speak) all his thoughts perish.

It was of immense consequence to David then, as it is to Christians now, to distinguish between the times of a rejected king and the times of a regnant Solomon, between an. outgoing David and his incoming Son, between a period when God was going from tent to tent and from one tabernacle to another, and " the dispensation of the fullness of times when He shall gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.", This is the hour when the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain, but there is a millennial day "when it shall be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God."

These dividing points are properly, and in the ways of God, the differences between the first and the second coming of our Lord Jesus; and it is instructive to observe the change- which these-discoveries wrought in the mind of King David. Now these be the last words of David, " He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be:"as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. Although my house be not so with God, yet He bath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all. my desire, although He make it not to grow." David has at last reached the purposes of God. respecting His own glory in the yet future Son, according to the flesh, of whom he and Solomon were but the types. Moreover David is content that the mercies of Jehovah towards him and the nation should be made sure in the death and resurrection of Christ at a future day, when the Lord shall come a second time to Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and righteousness and peace shall be the stability of the times.

How necessary it is for our communion with God and our service for Christ (if it is to be in the truth of His own mind and in the power of the Holy Ghost) that we should at least have learned these three lessons in the school of God. Displeased and afraid of God those must be who are contented with the new cart and the trine instead of the shoulders of His redeemed and anointed ones. A pious evangelization which sits in its own house and makes itself the rule and measure of its enterprise towards the world around, thinking, as Nathan said to David, that to do " all that is in thine heart for God is with thee" is a sufficient guarantee for success, will find, perhaps too late, how short this comes of sitting before the Lord and getting at what is the purpose of His heart in the establishment of His own glory and the blessing of His people. So again, in a day of great missionary effort and religious organization it is well not to allow our natural feelings to anticipate the yet future Solomon and His reign of outward prosperity and glory, but keeping the patterns of royalty and the coming kingdom in mind (as David did), reject the place of a builder, and own the curtains and the hidden One in the heavens during this day of His rejection, and of the decline and corruption of Saul's dynasty.

Though we are the sons of God it cloth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, "when He shall appear, we shall-appear-with him in glory." David, who spake in other language and a lower key, said, " Although He maketh it not to grow, yet he bath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." We must go out to Him before He can come into His earthly people, and the building and the growing go on together; then, " as the days of a tree, shall be the days of His people, and they shall long enjoy the work of their hands." But we wait for the shout which will bid us rise up to meet the Lord in the air. Our wisdom is to rise up from ourselves, and our little interests which would always make God at home where we are at home, and go in and sit before the Lord to learn the thoughts of His heart about King David's greater Son and greater Lord. The only one who is the rule of God's actings is the Son of His love-He who said,

Now is the Son of roan glorified, and God is glorified in him; if' God be glorified in him God shall glorify him also in himself, and shall straightway glorify. him." So Nathan will not suit us for revelations such as these. He and David have served their day and generation, and have recorded the times that went over them, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries; and died full of days, riches, and honor. The Holy Ghost is now the only competent glorifier of the Father and of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Prophets long ago made known the ways of God to Israel in types and promises. Evangelists have by the Spirit of God traced the great mystery of godliness, the Word made flesh, when presented as the long expected Messiah to His earthly people and to Jerusalem. Jehovah God has been refused in the tent, the tabernacle, and the temple, and last of all as God manifest in the flesh. The first man has proved himself to be no connecting link with God, in His ways of righteousness and peace on earth. The second man has come forth from the Father and been born into the world by incarnation, and born out of it by resurrection from the grave, and sits at the right hand of-the throne of the majesty in the heavens, the head over all things to the Church.

Building times and growing times are out of date below, where all is in ruin, waiting in hope for the manifestation of the sons of God. A new and far different basis of divine operation has been laid than the book of Genesis relates. Redemption is now obtained by the blood of Christ out of a fallen state and from a groaning creation as the eternal basis of God's counsels in grace to us; and it is upon this platform the Holy Ghost, in quickening power, gathers the elect. The spirit of prophecy guided the sweet Psalmist of Israel to such a day when he spake of the stone which the builders refused, and said, " It is become the head stone of the corner; this is the. Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Peter was taught the same lesson after he had abandoned the mount of transfiguration as a building site, and said, under the subsequent anointing of the Holy Ghost, " To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed, indeed, of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

A dispensation such as this, when God is calling out from the Gentiles a people for Himself, cannot possibly be one of universal blessing to those left behind. Now that the Father is gathering His many sons to a portion and place with His rejected Son in the heavens, as heirs and joint heirs, it cannot be the time of blessing for His betrayers and murderers below. If we follow Peter in the lesson of growing and building times, and take our places with him, and sit before the Lord " as a spiritual house, an holy priesthood," we shall be carried beyond ourselves, and the narrow and ofttimes erroneous thoughts which prevail, when Christ is considered more in reference to self than to the eternal counsels of God, for His own glory now and hereafter.,

For instance, in Peter's first epistle and its opening subject of the inheritance, it is declared to be " incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you"; consequently, to think of this earth and this dispensation in relation to it, would be to disconnect it from the heavens. Moreover, we are begotten to this lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; and it is-therefore on the other side of death and judgment, and all the ills of this present life-indeed, where flesh and blood never were nor can be. So as to the second epistle, in relation to the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter uses the holy mount in reference to the future majesty, honor, and glory which the Lord received from God the Father by the voice from the excellent glory; and instead of building three tabernacles, Peter speaks of putting off his own, as the Lord had showed him. He preferred to wait a while till the day dawn, when by redemption title he will enter it, with the King in resurrection power.

David in his own house limited the ark of the covenant to himself, and the blessing of Israel in connection with his times and with his seed according to the flesh. Nathan himself had to be taught ere he could rightly direct David to look into the thoughts of God, and learn that when he was gone to be with his fathers Jehovah's purposes would find their footing in the person of his son that should come after him. So Peter refuses to connect any expectations with himself in the earthly house of his tabernacle, but says, " Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance"; and provides the lamp for the hand, and the light for the foot, for those who continue in the dark place " till the day dawn."

May thousands of the Lord's dear people, who are dreaming in their own houses (instead of sitting before the Lord), about His Christ, and speaking one to another of progress and advancement by present means and agencies, wake up to the blessed hope of " the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," as the birthplace of their fondest expectations, and accept, in the meanwhile, the " day-star in their hearts," as the harbinger of the morning that shall usher Him in, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Will they let God's ways and means slip, as to the establishment of His everlasting. Kingdom in the person of His own Son, and reduce themselves (as they must) to other means within their reach, such as the magistrate, the primate, and the premier? Will these take fallen man in hand, and try to make something of him, till in the corning crisis the whole world breaks loose from their restraint, and agrees to worship the beast, and in defiance of God, and their rulers, say, " Who is like unto the beast?"

As quickened, raised, and seated in the heavenlies, the Holy Ghost, by Paul, teaches us in the Ephesian epistle the Father's counsels concerning His Christ, the first begotten from the dead, the risen and glorified Son of man-" Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all." Human expectations are on this side of death and the grave, but all divine purposes and operation lie on the other side of sin and judgment at the Cross. This was why Jesus said, in prospect of redemption, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how. am I straitened till it be accomplished "; and again, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." The " beginning of the new creation of God" takes His place as the first begotten from the dead, and none else can be there except as redeemed by His blood, and born out of death and judgment. " You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, and who were by nature children of wrath, even as others."

Here lies the difference between truth and error in practice, and it is immense. Men are occupied, and so is Satan, with the world as it is, and with man in the flesh; but God is not, whether as regards progress or improvement. How can there be even probation, after the cross? On the contrary, He is about "to judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He bath ordained, whereof He bath given assurance to all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." May the Lord teach His saints to have done with their own expectations, and measure the glory of God by nothing lower than His own thoughts, which can only find their answer in the second coming of the Lord.

The language of most Christians to one another is a repetition of Nathan-" Do all that is in thine heart, for God is with thee "; and this cheering but faulty assurance is too generally accepted; so, " they help every one his neighbor, and every one says to his brother, Be of-good courage. So the carpenter encourageth the goldsmith, and he that smoothed with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not he moved." What mistakes and blunderings by hand and mouth would have been avoided in the Church of God, had Nathan's first assurance to David been judged in the light of the message from God to him the second time: "Spike 1 a word to any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?" David accepted this timely reproof, and learned that the mind of God touching the Ark of the Covenant was very different to the intentions that were passing in his own. And is it of less importance in Christian service, under the guidance and ministry of the Holy Ghost as it professedly is, that we should have the mind of Christ as to the pace we take, and what we do and say to those around, as regards the Church and the world, and the times of grace and glory through a present Savior, and by the coming Lord and Deliverer?

If we sit before the Lard, and read Paul's exhortations to his son Timothy about the last days, and the perilous times that are now come, we shall no longer dream of progress and improvement, hut "that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Have we judged ourselves, and bowed before such a testimony as this, so contrary to the natural heart and all its thoughts and purposes-so contrary, also, to the unscriptural expectations of the professing people of God?

The testimony by which God is gathering to Himself cannot be the spirit of this age, or run along with it.

Be not thou, therefore, ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of

God. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Exercises such as these would soon put us into the current of God's mind, and outside our own imaginations, and lead us to detect-the waste of labor and expenditure of power upon wrong machinery and untimely objects in the present day.

Oh! the mercy to take the shoes off our feet and sit before the Lord and worship Him,like the four-and-twenty elders round the throne in the Apocalypse, according to the revelation of His mind, through the man He has made strong for Himself. His own eternal glory-the coming judgment on the world which has cast Him out -our rapture and translation out of it into the heavens, to meet Him presently-are all recorded by the Spirit of the living God. Subjection to His word, and the acknowledgment of the Holy Ghost as the Divine Teacher, are indispensable when we think of having the mind of God; and self-judgment, when we discover, as we certainly shall, the variance of our own.

" And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. And the four-and-twenty elders, which sit before God on their seats (the place where we are to-day in spirit), fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and roast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should he judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth." Amen.

J. E. B.

Faith in God and His Word, Not in the Church

N. WELL, James, I hear you have been visited by some Roman Catholics, and are in some perplexity.

James 1 have, and they spoke very fair; and I can't deny that I do not see clear. Christ surely left a church on earth, and some authority to guide us poor people, and instruct us in the right way. It is a great comfort to feel assured that one is of the true Church that Christ founded. And, after I had been reflecting awhile on what they said, I began to feel that I have got no proof that the Bible is the word of God.

N. And did you ever doubt it before, James?

James. No, I can't say I did; I have always believed it to be the word of God; and, though I am afraid I have sadly neglected it many a year, still I, and my wife more than myself, used to find comfort in it; and the children, too, used to read a chapter when they came from school; and I think it used to do us all good, and bring God home to us somehow, and keep our consciences alive; and the children took wonderfully to beautiful histories that are in it, and so, indeed, did we, and it made our home happy. There was only Jem that paid no heed to it; and he was an unruly boy; I have had a deal of trouble with him. But, since I have got more serious and anxious in my mind, I have found the Bible bring trouble into my conscience. I hardly know where I am with God; it condemns me; I see there is goodness and wonderful grace in Jesus; but then, I have no peace in myself, and now I see there is a deal I do not understand, and I should like to know the bottom of it. Bill M. (my neighbor, who has turned Catholic), says he has never been so happy in his life, his soul never got rest till now. He never thought much about religion, it is true, and those ladies that visit were wonderful kind when his lass was sick; but he says he knows some who never got a minute's rest in their souls, that were always seeking it, till they found it in the true Church. It was he that asked me how I knew it was the Bible; and if the true Church had not kept the Bible and given it, who could say it was the word of God? and how did I, an ignorant man, know it was the word of God, as I called it? and that has dashed me uncommonly, becauSe, though I never doubted it a moment before, and saw in infidels that there was no good nor godliness in their ways, yet,. I felt I had no proof to give, and what am I to do? I know it speaks of a church that Christ would build on the rock, and I think if that would give me certainty, it would be a great rest to me. But my Mary says she could not think of such a thing; that she could no more doubt it to be the word of God than that the sun shines, and less, if that were possible; that there is more light and comfort to her soul in the Bible than there is light for her eyes and warmth in the sun. And she is a rare wife to me, and I see she has great sense in the things of God, and is a comfort in the house, and wonderful to the children-very civil to those black ladies that visit, but shy of them and the way they try to get into the family. I do not think that I doubt at bottom, that it is the word of God; my conscience and my heart too, I think, make me feel it is. But since this talk with Bill M. my mind is all in perplexity, and I feel I have no proof it is the word of God; and just because I have begun to be anxious about it, and about my soul, I should like to have something certain to rest upon. You'll forgive, I'm sure, Sir, my saying everything, and telling you all that is in my mind, because I have known you so long and your kindness, and I am in perplexity, and, to say the truth, glad to open my mind to some one I can trust, though I do not rightly know what to trust now. I thought I could entirely trust the word of God, and what am I to do now? You'll excuse me.

N*. I am very much obliged to you, James, for telling me what was passing in your mind, and grateful for the confidence you have shown me, and thankful to God that He disposed your heart to do so, and we could not do better than take up the subject; there cannot be a more important one. The faith, or, to speak more truly, Christ, is everything for us poor sinners, and we do want some sure ground on which to believe. Our faith must be a divine faith, in its nature and source, as well as in the things which it reveals; and for a divine faith we must have divine testimony. But there is, in what you say, one thing which strikes me much, namely that your Roman Catholic friends have only led you to doubt of the authority of the Scriptures, which yet, they believe to be divine, or they are infidels themselves. They have not ventured to say the Scriptures are not divine; that would be infidelity, and, as far as man went, straightforward infidelity; but they have sought to make you doubt of the certainty of their being divine. This may be all very well to bring you under their influence, and to make you believe that they only can give you this certainty; but I confess that I do not see the honesty of making you uncertain as to the authority of the Scriptures, when they own that authority themselves.

James. That is true. If they do believe they are the word of God, I do not see why they should seek to make me doubt as to how I can be sure of it.

N*. Just so; and in respect of such a matter as the word of God, it is something approaching to blasphemy. It is saying, that when God has spoken to men, His word has no certain authority of itself over their consciences. They deprive your soul of certainty in the word of God

on one side, and they deprive the word of God of its authority over your soul on the other. This, I must say, seems to me a wicked course, seeing they do not dare to say it is not the Word of God. Now, an upright heart can very often judge of a thing by the conscience, when it is quite unable to meet argument. These men seek, as to what they believe is the word of God, and which they believe ought to exercise authority over your conscience, to make you doubt whether you have any proof whereby you may know it to be such when you read it. Is not this the course your infidel acquaintance took with you? Only they took it openly.

James. Well, it is just the same.

N*. The word of God, James, carries its own authority in the heart of him in whom it has wrought. And, mark this, if it has not wrought in a man's heart, though all the churches in the world should accredit him, that man is lost. Why, if they believe it to be the word of God, not take it and see what it says? They dare not, it is too plain, it condemns their whole system. For instance, you know that it is said, " Where remission of these (sins and iniquities) is, there is no more offering for sin." (Heb. 10:13). Now, their whole system depends upon there being still offerings for sin. The very way a Roman Catholic is described is-he goes to Mass. Now the Mass is an offering for the sins of the living and the dead. And when the Word says there is no more offering for sin, and the most important distinctive point in their doctrine, and the keystone of the system they belong to, is, that there is still an offering for sin, it is easy to understand why they try to shake your confidence in the Word, or to make you think that you cannot understand it. It is because it is very plain indeed, for the poorest, that they do not like it. You are a poor man, but it does not require much learning to understand that the declaration that "there is no more offering for sin" upsets a system which is built upon offering one continually. They may quote Fathers of all names to prove that there ought to be one, or that there was one; but, if the word of God has authority, they cannot say there is one according to the authority of God. There is a kind of learning,

James, learning such as your wife has, being taught of God-a learning from Him according to the promise of that Word, the only learning that saves-which gives a weight and power to the truth I am referring to, which all the sophistry of Romanists or infidels cannot shake-I mean, the knowledge of the unchangeable value of the one offering of Christ, offered once for all. A man taught of God knows that it is in force forever, that it gives peace to the conscience, that Christ suffered agonies in accomplishing our salvation in that offering; and, as is expressly said, that if it had to be repeated, Christ must suffer repeatedly; that if it be an offering wherein Christ does not suffer-an offering wherein he does not shed his blood-it is an utterly worthless sacrifice-a base pretension to be an offering-a mockery, really, of the solemn truth of the sufferings and agonies of the Son of God for us.

It is said (Heb. 9:25), " Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place with blood of others, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once, in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And, as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." Mark the words "ONCE," and "bear the sins." Does Christ bear sins in the Roman Catholic mass? If not, it is a new way of getting forgiveness, which sets aside the unspeakably gracious but heart-bowing way in which God has wrought salvation out for us, namely the dreadful but infinitely precious sufferings of His own Son. If Christ does suffer in the mass, He is not glorified at the right hand of God. True Christianity and the doctrine of the mass cannot go together. And the more you examine the 9th and the 10th chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the more you will see how the truth of God is set aside by the mass. For the apostle is showing the value of Christ's offering because it was only once, in contrast with the Jewish offerings which were repeated. Those offerings, he says, were a remembrance of sins, brought them to mind; the sins were still there, or why would the offerings for sin not have ceased to be offered:-but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God. And then, mark, he shows how we know it: " Whereof also the Holy Ghost is a witness to us.... their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." And note, how blessedly this chapter presents it to us. First, the will of God giving His Son instead of all these useless sacrifices which could never take away sins,-thus I see His thoughts and love. Then, again, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all: thus I see (not only Christ willing, in the same love, to come, but) the needed work actually accomplished. And lastly, the Holy Ghost bearing witness about it. I have the divine will and thoughts, the divine work; and, that I may have divine faith about it, and peace in my soul through " it, I have a divine testimony about it And note, James, that this testimony is the written word of God; that is, He quotes a passage of Scripture as the witness which the Holy Ghost has given. Now that is what as a poor sinner I want; and which I get only by this truth,-the efficacy of this one offering testified of by the Holy Ghost Himself. And that is the reason I said that one taught of God knows it with a certainty and blessing which Romanists and infidels cannot shake. And no man that possessed this would, for a moment, think of giving up the divinely-witnessed and known efficacy of the sacrifice by Christ of Himself, once for all, for the vain profitless repetition of it [sacrifice] where Christ does not nor can offer Himself, for He is at the right hand of God, where He does not suffer or bear sin, for that He cannot do now He is in glory. And, note, this repetition of it, if I admit it, denies the lasting, perfect efficacy of the offering He Himself made. For if it be lasting and perfect, why repeat it? My objection to the Roman Catholic system on this head is that it is built on a pretended offering which Christ does not offer, in which no blood is shed, in which Christ does not suffer, in which Christ does not bear sins, which is therefore utterly worthless; but which, by the pretension to offer Christ again, denies the abiding efficacy of Christ's one real offering of Himself. What a fraud of Satan's, to be sure, it is!

James. But then do we not commit sins (not only after Christ has died, but even) after we come to have part in the sacrifice of Christ?

N*. Surely we may; but Scripture does not speak of the repetition of Christ's sacrifice for this; that was once for all. His blood cannot be shed again, arid without shedding of blood there is no remission. It was not our sins up to a certain day which Christ bore, if indeed we have part in that sacrifice. God knows all beforehand the same as at the time, and we had committed none of our sins when Christ died for them: so that it is not the time when they were committed that makes the difference, save that they are worse when we have Christian light and life. Do not think that I count them slight; but we must not confound the efficacious work done about our sins, which was done once for all, and that work of grace and of God's Spirit in the heart which produces in us right thoughts and feelings about our sins and brings us into communion with God. The remedy practically, as to our hearts, if we do sin, is not a new sacrifice, for a new sacrifice to put them away IS IMPOSSIBLE; but, "if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins." Christ is our righteousness; and that and the worth of His propitiation remain always before God; and when we fail, in which we never can excuse ourselves, Christ intercedes for us, and the Spirit of God makes us feel the sin, and we are humbled and contrite, and thus Christ restores our souls, and we are again in communion with God. It is beautifully pictured, let me add, by that blessed expression of the Savior's condescension and love in washing the disciples' feet. He that is washed-truly born of God-needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. God may use His written word, or a sermon, or the warning of a friend, as means-but it is the work of Christ's grace in the soul.

James. Well, I feel greatly comforted by what you say, but all is not clear to my mind yet; still this grace

of Jesus Christ does give rest to one's spirit, and makes one think of Him, and of God's goodness, and His love to poor sinners like me; so that one likes to think of Him. Besides, I think it takes hardness and pride out of one's heart and puts away bad thoughts and makes one love other people too, whoever they may be.

N*. It does, James. It gives rest and does what you have spoken of, sheds the love of God abroad in the heart, and purifies the heart by faith. It is a blessed thing to think that God commends His love to us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

James. Yes, that is a comfort, and I like to think of that better than my doubts. Still, Sir, you'll forgive me, but they come back like a chill on my heart; and as I said I am not clear yet, for if I might take a wrong meaning out of the Scriptures, and I. feel I am very ignorant, I mean no offense to you, Sir, but one wants something sure for one's soul.

N*. All right, James; I have not forgotten our subject. You only make me feel more keenly the wickedness of those who seek to cast a doubt into the mind of a poor man, poor or rich either, as to the purity and source of these blessed wells of salvation, so that he is half afraid there may be poison in them, or that at any rate they do not suit him, while they know, or (at any rate) profess all the time to believe, that they are divinely given, and divine well-springs of health. I will treat this point in a direct manner by and bye, but you will let me, I am sure, pursue the subject in my own manner. It is well, you know, when a person is disposed to take a step, say to go into a house or a farm, to know what the house or the farm is. He is warned at any rate. All well that he should inquire afterward what authority there is for what he has heard, and take care there is a title.

James. Ay, that is true. Go on, Sir, as you think best. I shall listen, and I have heard what you have said gladly.

4*. I shall say a few words more about the mass. You are aware that the Church, as they call it, does not permit the laity to partake of the cup.

James. Don't they! why not?

N*. Well, it is for them to say why. they change Christ's ordinance, but it exalts the priest who does take the cup. They allege the danger of a drop of what they declare to be really the blood of Christ falling to the ground; though it would be hard to tell why there is more danger of this with the layman than with the priest. However such is their rule; laymen do not partake of the cup. They allege, to prove that they lose nothing, that the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ are in each species, that is, in each part,—in the bread. by itself, and the wine by itself; they call that the doctrine of concomitancy. Never mind the hard words, the sense is that the bread is a complete Christ, no longer bread at all, and nothing else but Christ, save in appearance. But see how the enemy has mocked them, for if the blood be in the body now, there is no redemption at all. Christ shed His blood to redeem and save us. Hence they were to drink as well as to eat. I will not dwell on this, but what a pretension this is, that the priest on pronouncing the formula;, " This is my body," turns the bit of paste into God, or (as it is constantly expressed by themselves) the priest makes God; for this is the expression familiarly used among them when they have the courage to speak freely. Now I knew a very poor man in Ireland tell his neighbor, a staunch champion for his church, when he was arguing for this doctrine, that he was contending for what he did not believe, for if that was true the priest could do what God could not do; for God could. not make God. And that is true enough. A poor man, James, if taught of God often hits right and wrong, -truth and error,-right on the head better than your learned men that make all kinds of fine distinctions. Nor would their distinctions serve here. They cannot say Christ comes into the bread as God was incarnate, because there the manhood was and remained manhood; but, according to their doctrine, the bread does not remain at all. And therefore it is called transubstantiation; that is, the substance of the bread is changed into the substance of Christ, and the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ are all there. They make a Christ out of the bread-a whole Christ, divinity and all. It must indeed be a new Christ. You cannot change it into the Christ that is already.

James. But, dear me, can all this be true! Why, I knew nothing of all this. They did not speak of all this to me. The true Church! well, it is well to know things. And yet sure enough the mass is the great thing with them. But I did not know what the mass was, I thought it was the sacrament with them.

.N*. Well, so it is. I shall, as I said, come to the question of the Church's authority; but knowing what people teach is one very good way of knowing what authority they can have. They anxiously seek to puzzle you about the Church, that, having fixed you on the ground of authority, you may receive everything they say without conscience, without personal responsibility, and without faith in God:-for faith in a priest or in the Church is not faith in God. You are to believe them, they say; yet if God has spoken by an apostle you cannot believe that, nor understand it without them; I suppose they know better how to speak of divine things than the apostles and inspired writers did. But this is the point we have to speak of by-and-bye. Only remark this well, James, you are to believe them. You cannot understand what God has said, nor even believe He said it, without them. You must depend on them. Can they answer for you in the day of judgment?

James. No, of course they cannot. I should be sorry to trust them.

N*. Of course they cannot. Do not depend on them, then, now. You must answer for yourself without them before God. This is just as true now, though that day be not come, for it is for what you do now that you will have to answer. You are individually responsible. You must assure yourself that the ground you are standing on now will be a sure and solid one in that day. Another cannot do it for you, you are personally responsible; they cannot pretend to relieve you from this. They would have you trust them blindly now, but they must abandon you when the real need comes, when you have to answer for yourself, and they for themselves.

James. That is true though.

N*. Surely it is true; but, mark, if you believe in Christ and rest your soul on Him, He never will abandon you. If He who of God is made unto us righteousness is your righteousness now, He will be your righteousness when sitting on the throne, before which you have to appear.

James. Is that in Scripture-that He is our righteousness?

N*. It is, James, in 1 Cor. 1:30. " Of him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

James. Well, that relieves my heart, however, more than all I have heard.. Christ our righteousness! why that changes everything and makes a man love Him too; and He bore our sins to be so! I think I do see it. I understand why. Mary is happy now, though I am not like her; and I am afraid 1 may not keep it as she does. Is there more like that? I know the Bible but too little, and then one heeds it after all so little, till one finds one really wants it.

.N*. Well, James, as we are on this subject, and a blessed one it is, before our going on with the question of the true Church, or Romish doctrines, I will refer to some of the passages you inquire about. You will remark in the one I quoted to you that it says, " Of him are ye;" that is, that these blessings belong to one who is a Christian at heart, one who in his soul, as a sinner who has need of Him, believes in Christ, a man whose conscience has been before God, in whom (as Scripture speaks) there is truth in the inward parts, who does not believe merely because he has been brought up in it, however sincerely as far as that goes he may have done so; but who has believed for himself, has come to Christ in his heart, because he wants Him. God will have realities, not notions, be they false or true. When the truth is really received it is received in she heart and conscience; it convicts of sin; chews the heart to itself and makes it know the need of the truths which, perhaps, it had learned before, perhaps had never heard of.

James. Yes, yes. I understand that. I have not, I am sure, felt my sins as I ought, but I know I am not right. I am uneasy, I know I am not right with God. That is what made me listen to what they said about the true Church and the rest a man might get there; but I do not see, what I think ought to be, in those who go there either. I know I am a sinner. Whatever the Bible is, it has made me see that: sometimes angry with myself, sometimes, God forgive me, almost angry with the Bible itself and Him that gave it; and yet I am ashamed of that, because it makes me see I am a sinner. I see I could not but be lost if I am judged as I am; yet I hope too it won't be so.

.N*. A word about this rest, James 1 do not deny that the Roman Catholic system gives rest to some persons. Suppose a child had been at mischief and was uneasy, and some one was to appease its parent, or its master, and it was let off; or its schoolmaster was to pardon repeated faults which skewed a bad disposition and not tell the parent: the child would be at ease and have its conscience quiet, and think no more about it, but it would not have a purified conscience; a little penitence might be added to keep up appearances, but the evil would be unhealed. That is the Church's absolution as contrasted with God's pardon. It quiets the conscience, but it does not purge it. That will not do for God, nor for a soul in which true desires after Himself are awakened. The doctrine of absolution and the sacrament of penance is an unholy doctrine. It is professedly a means of having forgiveness where the heart has not attained to true contrition. This is the express doctrine of the Catechism of the Council of Trent, a work of absolute authority for all Roman Catholics. According to that the sacrament of penance is a less precarious and less difficult means of reconciliation and salvation than contrition, afforded by the Almighty by giving to the Church the keys of—the kingdom of heaven * Thus the conscience gets tranquility without that true contrition which alone restores the soul to true communion with God. It is, in my judgment, a horribly wicked doctrine, to say nothing of its accompaniments connected with confession. The practical result is that thousands and thousands sin all the year, get cleared off by absolution for communion at Easter, and begin to sin again as soon as Easter is over.

James. But it is impossible an awakened soul, one that wanted really to be in communion with God, could be contented with such rest for his conscience as that; nay, he could not get any rest that way, because he knows he has to say to God, and God's presence awakens the sense of sin when he comes to it, and he can't rest in his soul till his conscience is purged.

N*. Impossible, James, as you say: but many a natural conscience is uneasy that has never got into the presence of God, and such a fear may be quieted without God, as it was felt without Him. But what has made you feel that it is impossible for an awakened soul which desires to be at peace with God to content itself with such rest as that?

James. Well, it is the Word of God, I suppose, by His goodness, because it has made me see my sinfulness and want to have peace with God Himself.

.N*. Then the Word of God is true, James, and has power. It has proved itself true to your conscience, told you what you have done and revealed God to you. It is God's Word. It has shown you to yourself in His sight and revealed Him. And none could do that but God. You do not want it proved, you do not want it judged. It has judged you in revealing God to you, by His grace surely, but as His Word.

James. That is true, I see it now. It has, by grace, power in itself.

N*. Just so. "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life." But a word more. There is another kind of rest a man may get. When he is not clear as to truth, and is harassed about it, when the truth has not power in his soul as known to himself; he would like to find it out and be satisfied about it. And he cannot get clear, be is uneasy, and (instead of waiting humbly in the exercise of his own soul to be taught of God, so that his own heart and soul and conscience get established in the present truth), he rests through weariness upon authority, does not know the truth himself in his inward parts, but takes whatever he is told as true. It is rest from the fatigue of his mind, but his soul has not the truth for itself at all. He does not believe for himself. Another (whom; out of weariness, he trusts to), has told him it is true, and he believes him.*

N*. You cannot have real rest and peace of soul, James, till you really know Christ as your righteousness before God. The goodness of God makes light and hope shine in, by grace, on the soul; and confidence in Him and His goodness springs up in the heart, which is an immense matter. Still God is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and cannot look at sin; and hence the conscience once in His presence feels it must be cleansed and, forgiven, and find a righteousness which our sinful lives surely have not given us.

James 1 know it is said the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin; and that if a man's sins were as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. That comforts and encourages me, but I have not rightly peace by it. I am not quite sure it is for me: for I am a poor sinner after all; I find sin in myself still, and I think that troubles me more than my past sins.

N*. It always does when grace has wrought in the soul. You do quite right to judge it and yourself for it. Sin becomes hateful to us if we are really born of God, and we are ashamed of ourselves for it. Nor can we ever excuse ourselves, and especially the true Christian, because the grace of Christ is sufficient for him to make him walk aright. But you will find, James, that power against sin will come when you know what it is to be cleansed from it. Not that it will not always require vigilance and prayer for grace; but, when your soul is in communion with the Lord through the peace He gives, you will find there the strength for victory and for holding your evil nature in subjection. That communion gives happiness and strength. Hitherto you have been more learning your need of cleansing than the efficacy of Christ's blood for it: and that is all right, because, as we were seeing already, God will have realities, and have inward purification and judgment of sin along with peace with Himself, and so shows us the sin we have to be cleansed from. But now remember

what we were referring to in Heb. 9 and x., how the blood of Christ purges the conscience.

James. Yes, yes, I see that more and more, and that it is done once for all on the Cross and cannot be repeated; I see, too, more how it applies; yet I cannot apply it entirely to myself.

N*. Well now, as God has brought you to see and judge your sin,-though I am sure as you know Christ better this feeling will even deepen; but as He has brought you to repentance as I fully trust-let me ask you, Is it from your righteousness or good deeds that you have to be cleansed?

James. Well, no: nor have I any, either.

N*. Well, it is from your sins then?

James. Yes.

N*. From those you have, or those you have not? James. Why, from those I have, of course.

N*. What are those you are feeling, I trust hating too; are they not those you have?

James. To be sure, and I can say I hate them any way,- but they overcome me still, and sometimes I think I am worse than ever.

N*. All right, as I said, James, to judge yourself. God has shown you the evil of sin. It must be so if we are brought into His presence in the light. But do you not see that those are the sins you have, for which Christ gave Himself that you might be cleansed in God's sight from them, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree? God has made you feel the guilt and unholiness of them. Now He skews you the full atonement for them, that in His sight the blood of Christ cleanses perfectly from them: that when God sees the blood, He cannot charge them on you, whom He has taught to trust in that blood, or your faith would be in vain. Thus He said to Israel in that solemn night when God went through Egypt to smite the firstborn, and commanded the blood to be put upon the lintel and the two door posts. You remember that account in Ex. 12

James. Yes, yes, the night of the passover.

N*. Well, God said then, "when I see the blood I will

pass over." Now, if a man had not believed God, he would not of course have had the refuge, and so it is now with us: but so God now sees the blood of our true paschal lamb and passes over. He cannot see the true Christian's sins as on him, because He sees the blood which has put them away. forever.

James 1 see it all now. He gave Himself for my sins and suffered agonies and wrath for them on the cross, that I may be clear from them. Well, it is blessed grace. To think-why one can't think as one ought of it-one is bought with a price, as it is said. I see why Mary is so happy, and no wonder. Why, how blind I was.

N*. And yet God has been gracious to you, James.

James. Ay, gracious to me, that He has. It is I that have to say so; but you will excuse my saying much more about it now, Sir. It is too wonderful, and I hardly know how to get my heart to contain it all rightly; but I see it, and thank you, Sir, too. Oh, it is all plain, and it is now I see that the word of God is true, and what a book that blessed book is. Yet I have all to learn in it. I did not just doubt it till they spoke to me, but it is a different thing when it is light in one's own soul. It convicted me before; but then I could hardly delight in its being true though. It judged me; but now it is light to my soul.

N*. So the Apostle John speaks, James; " He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not hath made God a liar, because he believeth not the record that God has given concerning his Son." This last you did not do, James, though you were in danger of it; but, as a system, Romanism and infidelity does. I say as a system, because I do not impute it to all the poor souls in the system, as if they did it willfully. Now you have, as I fully trust, got the other part, the witness in yourself. You see what forgiveness is, but you have yet to learn more fully what divine righteousness is-what it is to be made the righteousness of God in Christ. You will find that there is a fullness in the deliverance of which God has made you partaker, of which you are hardly yet quite aware.

You see that there is a perfect forgiveness, and that the blood of Christ has blotted out all the wretched sinful fruit of your old nature; that He has borne your sins and died for you as a sinner, and that all that you are as such is done away by His death, in God's sight; for sin in the flesh has been condemned in the sacrifice He has made for sin, as well as sins atoned for. But, besides that, Christ is risen, and has taken a new place as an accepted man, who as such is God the Father's delight, and this is your place before God. You are accepted in Him; as well as the sins of your old man, and all its guilt put away. He has been raised again for our justification.

And this connects itself, you see, with a new life in us, the power of which has been displayed in His resurrection. It was divine power no doubt which was displayed in that, but in the way of the energy of life, and that life is made ours in Christ. We are quickened together with Him, and raised up, together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Him. We are made the righteousness of God in Him. This perhaps you cannot fully understand yet, but as we were speaking of what is given to us in being justified through Christ, I have just mentioned it. It is fully opened out in St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, in the second chapter of that to the Ephesians, in the third of Colossians-and in the Epistle to the Galatians. You will find there that the fleshly religion, so largely now developed in Romanism, was what opposed St. Paul in his day; only his energy, through the power of the Holy Ghost, kept it down. If you humbly study the word of God, looking to Him to help you, He will lead you on in these things. I now only just point them out to you.

A remarkable image of these truths is found in the history of the children of Israel, which may help you to understand what this deliverance which I speak of is. When God passed through Egypt in judgment, the blood on the door-posts protected them against that judgment, and most blessed that was; but Israel was still in Egypt. But when they arrived at the Red Sea, God said by Moses: " Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." Then Israel, as you remember, passed through the Red Sea dry-shod, and got out of Egypt, and into an entirely new position; as a people accepted of God, having a great deal to learn, but with God; and all their former state behind them. So it is not all, that the precious blood of Christ protects us, as the Lamb slain for us, from the righteous judgment of God; but His death and resurrection bring us into a new place accepted before God in Him, who is risen up from among the dead after having paid the wages of sin for us. But I must leave you, James, thankful that you see that Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross. You can rejoice with your dear wife, it will be a cheer to her, and lead your children on. A poor man is the happiest being on the earth when he has the Lord with him in his peaceful, if humble,. home. It is not that you will not find questions and difficulties arise in your mind, and temptations to overcome, and sin to resist; the Lord has warned us it will be so,-but we have One to go to, whom you, as I trust, now know for yourself; James.

We have what is a less pleasant part of our intercourse (but may be useful as you are circumstanced), your questions with Bill M. to settle about Romanist views, and I will try and see you again.

James. Thank you, Sir, I shall be glad to see you. I am right glad to have seen you to-day, and. I do not mind so much about those questions now, but it is as well to look into them, as I meet some of them often. I do not understand all you said about righteousness, but I see that it is there in the Word, and that Israel was not only spared in the judgment, but got into a new place with God, but my heart has not got in itself into it yet.

N*. Well, good bye. Search the Word, James, now your heart is in it. It strengthens the heart, and it keeps the conscience alive. A dull conscience is apt to be more or less a hardened one, and leaves the soul open to temptations and the assaults of the enemy,-and pray continually to God, your Father in Christ, for grace to help and keep you. The Bible has been a blessing to you, even though you long had no divine light on it, James 1 often think it is like the fire that is laid but not lit. The truths it contains cannot take effect till grace puts the fire to them; but the truth, divine truth, is there to be kindled any way, though it may be increased condemnation if a man give no heed to what God has said. So Paul speaks to Timothy, speaking of the safeguard in the last days, " that from a child thou hast known the Scriptures." God bless you, James; I hope to see you again.

James. Farewell, Sir. No. 12.

Fragment

1. THE notion that the Son of God could be in this world as it is, and He not be a sufferer in it, is, I judge of Satan: for it tacitly supposes Him not to have essentially and inseparable from Himself, the character and ways of God.

And as Son of Man He could not be here without suffering, if, indeed, He was perfect as a man, God manifest in flesh; happy only with what made a perfect man happy, and unhappy when surrounded with that which would have made a perfect man unhappy.

2. Some have said that the blessed Lord inculpated Himself before and with God in His birth, by becoming the seed of the woman and king of Israel. But both of these express what is the sheer ignorance of foolish men. If true, it would make the incarnation itself and His becoming seed of Abraham, an act of disobedience to God, instead of an act in full unselfish subjection on His part; and He would thus be by nature and association necessarily guilty; and it would thus destroy the possibility of His voluntarily taking up, at the hand of God, man's guilt, that He might bear the penalty of it, after His having shown in a life of perfect goodness down here that no guilt attached to Him.

3. To limit His sufferings to the unrighteousness of man against Him, is sheer ignorance. There was His sympathy with man, and His sympathy with God besides.

4. Take, too, His view of marriage, of death and of resurrection of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,-was He a stone not to suffer where God was set aside, where men whom He loved were all utterly at fault.

5. And what the results of such knowledge to Him

whose heart and mind linked the Paradise of man lost, with the paradise of God to be gained.

And if every office, position, glory entrusted to man had failed-and yet are to be brought forth and made to stand in Him-had He not to maintain, and did He not maintain in the humiliation, that not one thing had failed in Him, ere He took up the suffering which would put (not Himself but) those also for whom He suffered, at His side and under Him in the blessings thereof. Surely it was so. Word of God, as He was, He showed that He knew its force and temper in every respect.

The temptation in the wilderness from Satan; Jerusalem as Sodom and Gomorrah; crucified through weakness,-the experiences of His soul-about Martha, Mary, Lazarus;-about Peter, etc., in John 13 all proclaim Him a sufferer, and that apart from the vicarious sufferings on the cross.

Galatians

It may interest your readers to have brought before them the great principles which constitute the bases of the doctrine of the Epistle to the Galatians. It is upon the face of it elementary, the Churches of Galatia being in imminent danger of adding Judaism to Christianity in such a way as to destroy the nature of Christianity itself. Nor was theirs the only age in which liability to do so had existed, and has had to be watched against.

The law is a testing of human nature, to see whether it can produce righteousness for God, and a perfect rule of righteousness for that nature in all it owes to God and to a man's neighbor. So that it claims subjection, and that man should fulfill its requirements, under penalty, moreover, of judgment. The authority of God, the subjection of man to His commandments, and a perfect rule of conduct for man in his present state as a child of Adam are all involved in this system. But man, conscious he ought to fulfill it, his own conscience telling him it is right, and not suspecting his own weakness and the depth of his ruin, and seeing that keeping it would be righteousness for him before God, readily takes it up as the way of having that righteousness, and enjoying divine favor, of being right when judgment comes. When unawakened, observance of its outward claims satisfies the natural conscience; if understood spiritually, it leads to the discovery of that law in our members which hinders all success in the attempt. But God having established the law, it was a very difficult and delicate thing to show that, as a system, it was passed away, not because it was not right in its place, and useful too for its own real purpose, but to make way for a system of grace purposed and promised long before the law was established; and that by the discovery that it was death and condemnation to be under it, that the mind of the flesh (the nature the law dealt with) was not subject to it, and could not be, and that we escape its curse, as under it not by the destruction of its authority, but by dying as so under it, and that by the body of Christ, in whom we then found ourselves in a new life beyond its condemnation. The cross making all things clear. But the credit of the flesh, that is of himself, is dear to the natural man, and till he had discovered that in him, that is in his flesh, there was no good thing, he was loathe to give up a rule he knew to be right, in the humbling confession that he was such a sinner that it could be only his condemnation, the law of sin so strong in his members, himself so disposed to evil, that the law, weak through the flesh, could only condemn him. Judaizing teachers, proud in their own conceits, zealous of the law as the credit of their nation, could not bear to have it set aside as necessary for the way of righteousness and life with God; and the ministry which judged the flesh in Jew and Gentile, and freed the latter from all subjection to the Jewish system was intolerable to them. Man always clings to the law, speciously alleging God's claims and holiness, till he experimentally finds in the

discovery of the true character of the flesh his true state, that as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.

Hence Paul, both as to his own ministry and the place the law held, was in perpetual conflict with these Judaizing teachers. The more intimate we are with his writings, the more we shall find how he was harassed by it, and how his writings continually bear on the point that you cannot mix the two systems, law and grace. This lay at the root of all his doctrine, and in all its highest developments, as well as in its first elements. The counsels of God, in the second man, were formed before the world was, or man was responsible at all, and revealed only after that last man was come, and had He accomplished the work on which the bringing all these counsels into effect was founded. The Apostle's doctrine fully unfolded brought out the ground and scope of these. counsels in their full development in Christ, and, as to us, in

a new and heavenly position of man in and with Him; while the true state of the first man, responsible for his walk, of which the law was the perfect rule, gave occasion for insisting on the first elements of the truth, and the necessity of setting aside the first man, and thus for-the application of the law,, which could reach him only as long as he lived, in order to substitute grace and divine righteousness, not because the law was wrong, but because, being right, it was death and condemnation to man under it. Christ met this responsibility for us on the cross, magnifying the law by bearing its curse, but bringing us, dead to sin and alive in Him, into connection withal with another—Himself raised from the dead. In His death God had condemned sin in the flesh, and brought in what was divine in righteousness and life in place of man, when Christ was for sin a sacrifice for sin on the cross. These elements the Epistle to the Galatians fully instructs us in, without going into the counsels whose accomplishment is based on the cross. These are found elsewhere, most fully in the Ephesians.

The first part of the Epistle to the Galatians is occupied with the independence of Paul's ministry. It was neither of nor by man. From the Apostles he received nothing. The revelations he received, and his Apostolic authority were immediately from the Lord. But on this part it is not my object now to dwell. At the end of the second chapter the Apostle gives, in earnest and burning words, the whole bearing of the law on the Gospel, and how they were related one to another; but of this at the close. I will now show how he sets the law and Gospel over against one another.

Up to the flood, save the testimony of godly men and prophets, God did not interfere after the history of man's perverseness was complete in Adam and Cain. That issued in the judgment of the flood. After that God began anew to deal with man, to unfold His ways to him in the state in which he was. And they were carried on till the full proof of man's irreclaimable state was given in the rejection of Christ. The first of these dealings after scattering men into nations, and tongues, and languages, was His taking Abraham out of them all for Himself, and making him the stock and root of a new family on the earth, God's family fleshly or spiritual. The former Israel; the latter the one seed, Christ. Leaving aside for the moment Israel, the seed, according to the flesh, to whom the promises will surely be accomplished in grace, we find the promise made to Abram in Gen. 12., and confirmed to the seed in Gen. 22. This referred to all nations who were to be blessed in the seed, the one seed typified by Isaac offered up and raised in figure. On this the Apostle insists. The blessing came by promise. This, confirmed as it was to Isaac, could not be disannulled, and (what is more directly to the point) could not be added to. The law could not be annexed to it as a condition. To that there were two parties, but God was only one. The accomplishment of this conditional promise depended on the fidelity of both, and hence had no stability. God's promise depended on Himself alone. His faithfulness was its security, and it could not fail. But the law, coming 430 years after, could not invalidate or be added to the confirmed promise. The law is not against the promises of God, but merely came in by-the-bye till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, bringing in transgression but not righteousness. The law was not of faith; its blessing was by those who were under it themselves doing it. Promise, and faith in the promise and promised one went together. The law brought a curse; Christ the promised seed was made a curse for those under it, and when Christianity or faith came they were no longer under it at all. The law was an intermediate added thing, whose place ceased when the promised seed came. The law and grace are contrasted, as the law and promise, faith and the seed are first for justification. A man under the law was a debtor himself to do the whole of it, and a Christian taking this ground was fallen from grace, Christ had become of none effect to him. A man who looked to the law frustrated the grace of God. If righteousness came by it, Christ was dead in vain.

But the contrast is applied to godly walk. The Spirit is opposed to the flesh. They are contrary one to

the other in their nature. We are to walk after the Spirit, having the things of the Spirit before us, to do

its works, to produce its fruits; but if we are led of the Spirit we are not under law. Life and power and a

heavenly object characterize the Spirit, in contrast with the law which deals with flesh, and in vain, instead of taking us out of it. Thus, as to godly walk as well as to righteousness, the law is contrasted with grace. On one side are grace, promise, faith, Christ, and the Spirit, and I may add, a righteous standing before God; on the other, the law claiming obedience from the flesh, which does not render it, and out of which the law cannot deliver us. It gives no life. If there had been a law which could have given life, then indeed righteousness should have been by the law. It is this full contrast which makes the Galatians so striking.

The result is this. Being led of the Spirit we are not under law. What, then, is our state? We through the Spirit wait for the hope that belongs to it, that is glory. How so? Being righteous in Christ we have received the Spirit, and in the power of that we wait for what it so richly reveals. The contrast of the flesh and Spirit, and the power of the latter leaves the law functionless as to walk, whether in power or character. Law was a rule for flesh, a perfect one, but not for spirit. This reveals heavenly things, Christ in glory, and changes us into His image. This was in no way the law's object.

How, then, is its real use and power stated in the epistle? Peter, when certain came from James, would no longer eat with the Gentiles. Paul withstood him to the face, the weakness of one yielding to the presence of Jews, the energetic faith of the other holding fast the truth of the Gospel. Peter had left the law as the way of obtaining righteousness, and he was going back to it, building again what he had destroyed; he was then a transgressor in destroying it. Now Christ had led him to it. Christ then was the minister of sin. What was the effect of the law? Ah! we have through grace, in the earnestness of a holy conscience, its true work. It wrought death. The law had killed Paul (that is in his conscience before God). He had been alive without it once. But thereby he was dead to it. And this, that in another way, in another life, he might live to God, which the flesh could not do. Had it been simply given effect to in himself, it had been curse and condemnation as well as death, but it was in Christ, who had died under its curse for him, and he was crucified with Christ, being thus dead, dead to law, and to sin at the same time, having done with the old Adam, to which the law applied; he was nevertheless now alive. Yet not he (which would have been the flesh), but Christ lived in him. The law and condemnation and the flesh were gone (so to speak) together as to Paul's position before God, and replaced by Christ and the Spirit, on which last he largely insists in what follows, chap. 3. But there is more, there is the object before the soul. "The life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." This is a great point. That Divine person, who has so loved us and given Himself for us, whom we thus know in perfect grace, in love even unto death, is the sanctifying object of the whole life. We live by it. The law gave no object, no more than it gave life and strength. Here we have the most blessed one, where the heart is filled with love, and led out in confidence with an object that conforms it to itself. The principle of dealing, grace, life, power, object, are all contrasted with law, which afforded none of these, and could therefore no more produce godliness than it could righteousness before God. The epistle thus contrasts grace, promise, faith, Christ, the Spirit for righteousness and walk alike with law and flesh. The law was useful as bringing death on us, that is, on the old man. Condemnation being borne by Christ, in whom we have died to it and flesh. A new place, and life, and righteousness, beyond the cross is that into which we have entered, with Christ in heaven before us. I have written at intervals and interrupted, as well as weary, and not given in this paper, I fear, what was suggested to my mind. But I trust the great principles of the epistle on this point will be sufficiently clear to be helpful to some in studying the epistle itself. J.N.D.

Guidance for Today

IT would have been of no avail for Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, or Josiah during their respective reigns, and in the days of Israel's and Judah's revival history, to have aimed at Solomon's glory for themselves, or for the union of Beauty and Bands in the hand of Jehovah, as regards the nation. Any such attempt would have been only a further proof of inability to recognize their proper places before God, and would, in fact, have been an impeachment of His righteous government, which had inflicted these outward judgments upon Israel and the kings, on account of their disobedience.

A very different path and a far happier one was opened to their faith, and this they followed. They counted upon Jehovah to come down in grace to him that was humble and of a contrite spirit, and who trembled at His word.

Jehoshaphat was publicly chastened and taught on the battle field of Ramoth-Gilead that his affinity with Ahab was weakness and wickedness before God, whatever it might appear to be in the eyes of the gathered hosts: so God broke it up.

It is well to note the difference in all respects between Jehoshaphat's disgrace at Ramoth-Gilead, in the midst of the four hundred prophets of Ahab, who cried " Go up" (how like to the multitudinous guides of modern Christendom), and the honor which God put upon him when the hosts of the Ammonites and the Moabites, etc.,. came against him to battle at Hazazon Tamar. He takes in hand other weapons of war and of victory, and proclaims a fast throughout Judah, and sets himself to seek the Lord. He wins by prevailing with God as the secret of strength-" art Thou not our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of the land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham forever?" -Thus, Jehoshaphat girds himself with the power of the Almighty, and, in the perfectness of his own weakness and insufficiency asks, " O our God, wilt not thou judge them, for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. And all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives, and their children." What an appeal to infinite grace, and so in accordance with the mind and heart of God before Christianity came in, and the chariot and horse, and the bow and the spear were superseded. " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down reasonings, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

Faith, when coupled with obedience, whether then or now, puts everything in simple dependance into the hand of Almighty power and grace; and the answer to faith from the excellent glory is, " Be not afraid, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's; ye shall not need to fight; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you." The nation's glory had long been tarnished by the judgment of God upon its rebellion; but it never shone brighter than in the subdued light of the moral beauty which envelopes this scene at Engedi. " And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah with the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord." Jehovah comes out as in olden time, in the greatness of His majesty, and strength, so that the fear of God was in all the kingdoms of those countries when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.

Jehoshaphat is thus the witness to us that separation from an arm of flesh, and, in truth, from all evil and natural confidence, is the path which leads to shelter under the wings of the Almighty; just as Hezekiah's subsequent history is the further witness to us of a yet deeper principle, and its necessity in a walk with God" Be ye holy, for I am holy." The service of Jehoshaphat was relative in its character, and had to do with Jerusalem in its external relations with the kingdoms of that day: " so the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest round about." The service of Hezekiah was personal and had to do with Jerusalem, but in its internal relations to the Temple, and the worship of God in Israel. Thus, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. His work was not so much to separate himself from evil, and from Ahab,. like Jehoshaphat, but to separate evil from the place where Jehovah had put His name and His glory; and this is immensely important as raising the standard of holiness, and what becomes us in our relation to God as such, whether then or now (see Rev.

Observe that this character of cleansing must begin from within, as in later times between the Lord and the angels of the Seven Churches, or with Hezekiah and the priesthood of Israel; " and the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, into the court of the house of the Lord; and the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron." It is of great moment to see that Hezekiah made no effort to assume the original ground of Israel's national integrity, in keeping the passover unto the Lord God of Israel; but, on the contrary, recognizing the nation's failure, counts upon God in grace to come down upon the lower platform which he had provided to meet such an emergency (see Num. 9:10), by legalizing the feast on the fourteenth day of the second month.

How gracious is the Lord in meeting His people where they are and as they are: " I know thy works; behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name." Or, as we read in the more ancient chronicles of Israel, " they could not keep it at that time (the fourteenth day of the first month) because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently; neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem." Truly encouraging is this grace for a day like this, towards any whose hearts and consciences are alive to the condition of the professing church, and seek to recover real Christian worship: "Then they killed the passover, on the fourteenth day of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed." They, or we, must own the state in which our corporate failure has brought us, and put off our ornaments, so that God may take that as the opportunity of showing that He is superior to the emergency, and makes His restoring love sweeter to us than even the strong hand of His delivering power. " So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem: then the priests arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, even unto heaven." What a place for Hezekiah. between Jehovah and His people! and is there no such opportunity in the deepening declension and apostasy of Christendom? yea, is there no such thing to one who has the opened ear and the anointed eye?

The service of Josiah, the last revival king, had other characteristics of equal though peculiar interest; for in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, and they brake down the altars of Balaam in his presence. Hezekiah cleansed the temple of the Lord, and established the worship of God in Jerusalem, according to the law of Moses the man of God; but Josiah purged the whole land from its idolatry and false worship. He burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem; and when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel he returned to Jerusalem.

Perhaps the most interesting point of difference between these three kings, and which has most to do with a real positive action for God in the present day was when Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, "and Shaphan read it before the king; and it came to pass when the king heard the words of the law that he rent his clothes." It is a solemn thing when our distance and departure from God are estimated by no less a standard than the word of the Lord; and this was Josiah's measuring line. " Great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book." Jehoshaphat was the example of how God deals with a man who has affinity with evil; and what a note of warning, we may say in passing, for the alliances and associations of our clay! Hezekiah witnessed of the manner in which God encourages and works with the man who knows what the Lord's name is rightly connected with on earth, and, therefore, cleanses the house from all filthiness, and intelligently prepares it for the glory of God and the true worship of His people. Josiah, however, like John the beloved disciple, goes back to " the word which ye have heard from the beginning," and there he reads what is true, and accepts nothing else for his practical walk and service. He passes over the fathers, or only knows them as not having kept the word of the Lord; just as the apostle warns us of " the traditions of men," or " a vain conversation received from your fathers." None can tell the deliverance of soul but the man who is bold enough in our God thus to go back to " the word which was from the beginning ' for his guidance, and so passes by councils, creeds, and the fathers, with faith's simple watch-word and warrant, " let God be true, but every man a liar." What other course would suit the closing up days of Israel, before its Babylonish captivity in Josiah's time, any more than in these last days of a more fearful apostasy, and judgment upon " Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the whole earth." Josiah then, like the man of God of to-day, was owned of the Lord, in the positive refusal of things as they were, which neither suited God, nor the word of His truth, nor an awakened conscience; so that Josiah's feast of the passover exceeded on all respects that of Hezekiah; for it was held on the fourteenth day of the first month, nor was there any passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept.

The wretchedness and break down in a former dispensation, was, whenever nationalism was accepted and followed, instead of the law, of Moses, the man of God. And now that Christ is come, and Judaism passed away, the misery of this time is in the acceptance of a national religion by law established, instead of a pure Christianity founded in grace upon the finished and perfect work of Christ for life and salvation to every one that believeth.

Again, this king Josiah not only found guidance into peace and blessing, through the book which Hilkiah discovered in the house of the Lord; but there was wrath declared upon all disobedience as there is now-"in the time of harvest He will separate the wheat from the tares." How encouraging are the words of Huldah the prophetess, to the soul of Josiah-" because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest His words against this place, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord; and behold I will gather thee to thy fathers, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place."

Turn we again to " the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." How few of the Lord's people have formed their expectations according to this book which God gave unto our Lord when in heaven, although it is commended to us, " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written herein, for the time is at hand." When John turned to see the voice which spake to him he fell at His feet as dead; and, oh I did but Christians of the present day consult this last book given by the Lord " to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass," how would their judgments of all around them be changed as in a moment. Instead of encouraging each other by the delusive expectations of the world getting better by what they are doing in it; how would they be humbled, and rend their clothes, and weep like Josiah, or John, to find that the professing church itself is under inspection in the Apocalypse, and rejected by Christ as worthless for any purpose, "because thou art neither hot nor cold, I will spire thee out of my mouth." -.Where can Christians turn after this judgment upon the Seven Churches?-these very agencies, these gathered candlesticks, by whose means light and blessing were gradually to be introduced (as they think) and disseminated till the dark places of the world which were full of the habitations of cruelty, should be dark no longer. Were the Lord's dear people to consult this book, as Josiah did the lost or neglected book which was found in his day, they would be delivered, as he was, froth the delusions which are all around. How vast the difference when one discovers a falling away-a man of sin—the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, which exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, whom the Lord shall destroy with the breath of His mouth, and the brightness of His coming. Instead of wide spreading light, there are the lengthening and deepening shades of darkness discovered on every hand; when, instead of good, increasing evil is prevailing, and, finally, all the world worshipping the Beast, and saying in proud defiance " who is like unto the Beast?" Instead of blessing from God on account of the spread of Christianity, the heaviest judgments of the vials, the trumpets, and the thunders are heard because of the wrath and indignation of God!

Yet how gracious is the assurance now, as to Josiah by Huldah, and to the Christian by John-" because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth." Again, Paul to the church of the Thessalonians, " now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled," &c. Our hope is to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and to be taken out of the coming judgments; for peace and a time of blessing there will never be till after Satan is cast into the bottomless pit, and all the enemies of Christ have been made His footstool. " The winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep these things which are written therein, for the time is at hand!" J. E. B.

Hebrew Synonyms

(To end of Pentateuch.)

There are four words used in the original of the Old Testament for the words which have been rendered in the English authorized version " nation," " people," etc., etc.

Arranged alphabetically they stand thus:-

1. אמָּח f. ummah; 2. גּוֹ goh'y; 3. לאם, m. l'ohm;

4.עٕם, c. gahm.

In our English translation these are rendered variously.. Thus we find for 1, ummah, nation, people ' for 2, goh'y, Gentile, heathen, nation, people; for 3, V ohm, nation, people; and, for 4, kahm, folk, men, nation, people.

This, and the fact of the popular use of the second of them, goh-im, when in the plural for the Gentiles (who are commonly called by the Jews the goh-im), and of the fourth of them kahm, for Israel, the people of Jehovah,—make a few remarks desirable.

I may observe, in passing, that Scripture presents-and that, therefore, those who derive their thoughts from Scripture about the things of God's government and kingdom upon this postdiluvian earth, often allude to -divisions of the people of it.

1. The family of Noah was divided into three heads in Gen. 9, and the generations or races flowing from these three heads are given to us in the tenth chapter: these races, with their characteristic names, re-appear in the closing scenes of prophecy, as in Ezek. 38 and 39., etc. The Gentile politicians of to-day, too; calculate upon a war of races as likely to take place ere long.

2. Then we get gammi (my people), the people of Jehovah, the nation which He was-pleased to take up, by the hand of Moses, as the center and chief means of illustrating His government upon earth, the people whose King and God upon earth He was and will hereafter- be. (Compare Deut. 32:7,8,9.)

In contrast with them, as a nation, though, when they failed, in oppressive connection with Israel, were the four great kingdoms of the heathen or goh-im as in Daniel

There are nations extern to these though connected with them.

And 5. There are the nations in the uttermost parts of the earth, to whom, in the latter day, blessing will flow from Israel.

It may be that many subordinate questions may arise through ignorance as to details connected with these things, and from want of understanding in Scripture as to God's dealing with the subdivisions of the families of the Patriarchs; as, for example of Abraham, with his two wives and concubine and their three sons Ishmael, and Isaac, and Midian; and of Isaac and his two sons Esau and Jacob. For the Ishmaelites and Midianites, Edomites and Amalekites have their places in the scenes before us as well as the children of Lot-the Ammonites and Moabites; and many of them come into the scene in the latter day. But there is no question as to the existence of them both in the historic and the prophetic page.

Our subject of study, however, now, is the use in Scripture of the four Hebrew words, ummah, goh'y, l'ohm, kahm, and their plurals. I turn now to them.

1. אמּח ummah, f., though found in the singular in

Chaldee as we shall see, occurs in Hebrew only in the

plural forms, masculine and feminine, ummim, m., and nation, Egypt.. f. ummohth. I shall cite these according to the words by which they are represented in our authorized English Bible. -

Gen. 25:16 (f.). twelve princes according to their nations (ummohth), [said of Ishmael's sons].

Num. 25:15 (f.). He (was) head over peoples (ummohth) [Zur, father of the Midianitish woman, Cozbi, slain by Phinehas].

Psa. 117:1 (in.). Praise, all ye peoples (ummim)

[query, of whom].

In Chaldee, in Dan. 3:29, we do find ummah, the singular form, Ezra 4:10: And the rest of the nations (f. emphatic and pl.) (whom the great and noble Asnapper brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria).

Dan. 3:4. O people, nations (f. emph. and pl.), and languages.

Dan. 3:7. All the people, the nations (f. emph. pl.), and the languages.

Dan. 3:29. That every people, nation, (ummah, f.), and language.

Dan. 4:1, and v. 19, and vi. 25, and vii. 14, all people, nations (f. emph. pl.) and language:.

[The passages in Daniel refer to all whom the word of Nebuchadnezzar could reach.]

From these eleven occurrences we must form our judgment about the application and meaning of the word.

In ten of the passages, it is used:-once of Ishmaelites, once of Midianites, and eight times of the peoples who were within reach of the word of Nebuchadnezzar, head of gold of the monster-image of Daniel. This is a very low use for a word. It is never met with as used of what is high or noble, according to the Divine mind. And it has no words which are cognate to it, or derived from it, in the Hebrew or Chaldee of the Old Testament which could help us to its meaning; nor from its con. nections with what was in a sense antagonistic to Israel, could it suitably be used to describe the people of the lands in the uttermost parts of the earth, to whom, in the latter day, Israel (as the center of God's government on the earth) will send out blessing; nor is it so used.

Leaving the word goh'y till we can examine it in juxtaposition with 'gem, I now turn to l' Ariz, and its plural l'ummim.

Gen. 25:23. And the Lord said to her (Rebekah); Two nations (goh-im, pl.) (are) in thy womb, and two manner [or sort] of peoples (l' urnmim, pl.), shall be separated from thy bowels and (the one) [manner or sort of] people, (l'ohm), shall be stronger than (the other) [manner or sort of] people (l'ohm).

Gem 27. 29 [Isaac blessing Jacob]. Let peoples (gammim, pl.), serve thee and [manners or sorts of] nations (l'ummim, pl.) bow down to thee: be lord [a mighty man] over thy brethren.

Observe, this would not run the source of the division of people back to Shem, Ham and Japhet, so as to make the word to be equivalent to what we call the races of people, in connection with the Noahic earth, who constitute the whole human family. The subdivision here alluded to took place in the family of Isaac, type of the heir of promise, not earlier; and the heads of this subdivision are brought before us in Rom. 9 All God's ways and subdivisions are to be noted.

The word occurs fourteen times in the Psalms: viz., 2. 1, and 7. 7, and 9. 8, and 44. 2, 14, and 47. 3, and 57. 9, and 65. 7, and 67. 4, 4, and cv. 44, and 108. 3, and 148. 2, and 149. 7. I shall render it throughout these places in the Psalter uniformly. But of this, I will speak, lower down. Here I only note that a race of men as distinguished from another race derived from the same source as itself, as were Edom and Israel, is, I judge, the meaning of the word: identity of origin but contrast in character, habit, prospect, and end are supposed. Let the reader bear this in mind in connection with this word, and that its habitual use is of that which is the offset from that which remains the channel of blessing and testimony.

The word occurs also in seventeen other references: I will give them with any remarks that may occur to me.

Prov. 11:26. He that withholdeth corn, the people (l'ohm), shall curse him: but blessing (shall be) upon the head of him that selleth (it) [query: is the curse of the mob here set in contrast with the blessing of Jehovah].

Prov. 14:28. In the multitude of people (gahm) (is) the king's honor: but in the want of people (l'ohm) is the-destruction of the prince.

Prov. 14:34. Righteousness exalteth a nation (goh'y): but sin (is) a reproach to any peoples (l'ummim, pl.)

Prov. 24:24. He that saith to the wicked: Thou (art) righteous; him shall the peoples (gammim, pl.) curse, nations (l'ummim, pl.) shall abhor him.

Isa. 17:12. Woe to the multitude of many peoples (gammim, pl.) and to the rushing of nations (l'ummim, pl.)

Isa. 17:13. The nations (l'ummim, pl.) shall rush like the rushing of many waters.

Isa. 34:1. ('Tis in the day of vengeance, v. 4, 6, 8, on Bozrah and Idumea.) Come near, ye nations (goh-im, pl.) to hear, and hearken, ye peoples (l'ummim, pl.): let the earth [or land] hear, and the fullness thereof..... the world and all its produce.

Isa. 41:1. Let the peoples (l'ummim, pl.) renew their strength: (Cyrus is in prospect)... [the indignation of Jehovah (is) upon all the heathen (goh-im, pl.)]

Isa. 43:3,4. I gave Egypt (for) thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee... I have loved thee (Israel): therefore will I give men (Adam) for thee, and peoples (l'ummim, pl.) for thy life.

Isa. 43:9. Let all the nations (goh-im, pl.) be gathered... let the peoples (l'ummim, pl.) be assembled.

Isa. 49:1. Listen, O isles,... and hearken, ye peoples

(l'ummim), (Cyrus is in prospect).

Isa. 51:4. Hearken to me, my people (gammi),..give ear, my nation (l'ohm); my judgment

... a light of the peoples (gammim, pl )

Isa. 4:4,5. David... a witness to the peoples (l'ummim, pl.)... and commander to the peoples (l'ummim, pl.) Thou shalt call a nation (goh'y) and nation (goh'y, singular), that knew thee not.

Isa. 60:2,3. Darkness shall cover the earth.... gross darkness the peoples (l'ummim, pl.);... the Gentiles (goh-im, pl.) shall come to thy light.

Jer. 51:58. [Note the goh-im in ver. 44, and gammi, my

people in ver. 45],-(in Babylon)-... the peoples (gammim,

pl.) shall labor in vain, and the folk (l'ummim, pl.) in—the fire.

Hab. 2:13. the peoples (gammim, pl.) shall labor... and the peoples (l'ummim, pl.) shall weary themselves.

I come now to goh’y and gahm, the second and the fourth word out of the four, the use and meaning of which we are considering. And first, I will look at them according to the occurrences of them in Scripture.

The Pentateuch gives the outline of Israel's past, present, and future, as that nation which is the chief means of illustrating Jehovah's government and worship upon earth; and as their separation from among the nations, their always abiding distinct from them, and their return into the place of power above them all is traced in these books (from the commencement down to the expected end) we may as well begin with this portion of the word of God.

In the following list of occurrences I mark off, by A, those of goh’y, goh-im; and by B, those of gahm gammim:—A. Goh’y B. Gahm

Gen. 10:5. The sons of Japheth... By these were the isles [or separate spots] of the Gentiles [goh-im, pl.] divided in their lands;... in their nations [id.]

Gen. 10:20. The sons of Ham... after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, in their nations [id.].

Gen. 10:31. The sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations [id.]. (32.) These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations in their nations (id.): and by these. were the nations (id.) divided in the earth after the flood.

Note, here, how from the first this word was used to designate something like a family clan inhabiting a district. The. first division of the family of man upon the Noahic earth was into the three heads: Japheth, Ham and Shem; and secondly, there was a subdivision of each of their families, going out; the sons formed clans.

For instance,—Japheth had Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras-his sons;

Gomer had Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah as his sons.

Javan had Elishah, and- Dodanim as

his sons. These went out into the separate spots of the clans and possessed lands.

So we have, also, the names of the heads under Ham, and under Shem; and their sons and the places occupied by their families where their clans grew up.

B. The first occurrence of kahm comes in here.

Gen. 11:6. The Lord said (at the tower of Babel), Behold the people (is) one, and they have all one language.

Observe, here, the races of men were still one people ("gahm).

Gen, 12. 2, 3. The Lord had said to Abram. I will make of thee a great (goh’y) nation... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Gen. 14:1,9. Tidal king of nations (goh-im).

Gen. 14:16. Abram.... brought again... Lot, and his goods,... and the people (kahm).

Gen. 15:14. And also that nation (goh'y) [Egypt]. Gen. 17:4. Thou (Abram) shalt be a father of a multitude of nations (goh-im), (5) for a father of a great multitude of nations (goh-im) have I made thee. (6.) I will make nations (goh-im) of thee.

Gen. 17:14. That soul shall be cut off from his people (kahm).

A. and B. Gen. 17:16. I will bless her (Sarah), and she shall become nations (goh-im); kings of peoples (gammim) shall be of her.

A. Gen. 17:20. I will make of him (Ishmael) a great nation (goh’y), and compare 21. 13 and 18. 'Gahm-the people, 19. 4, of Sodom;- 23. 7, 11,

12, 13, of Heth;- 32. 7, and 35. 6 of Jacob;- 33. 15, of Esau;- 41. 40, 55, and 42. 6, and 47. 21, 23, of Egypt.

Gen. 18:18. Abraham shall become a... nation (goh'y)... the nations (goh-im) of the earth shall be blessed. Compare 22. 18.

Gen. 20:4. A righteous nation (goh'y) (Abimelech's).

Gathered to his people (gahm), (i.e., buried), 25. 8, Abraham, and, 17, Ishmael, and 35. 29, Isaac, and 49. 29, 33, Jacob.

Gen. 25:23. Two nations (goh-im) in thy womb (Rebekah's), Edomites and Israelites (each of them called a l' ohm,) the two (l'ummim).

Gen. 26:4. In thy seed (Isaac), shall all the nations (goh-im) of the earth be blessed.

Gen. 26:10, one of the people (gahm), might lightly have lien with her (Rebekah), so ver. 11.

Gen. 27:29. (Isaac blesses Jacob). Let people (pl. gammim) serve thee, and nations (l'ummim) bow down to thee: and xxviii. 3, that thou mayest be an assembly of peoples (pl. gammim). Compare

B. Gen. 34:16. (Jacob's sons, to Shechem), we will be one people (gahm), and verse 22.

Gen. 35:11. (God's promise to Jacob), a nation (goh'y), and an assembly of nations (goh-im), shall be of thee. Compare xlvi. 3 A.

* Remark these three references, 27. 29, and 28. 3, and 35. 11:- Peoples (gammim) to serve Jacob; l'ummim (a nation and its offsets) to bow down to him ( 27. 29), who was to become an assembly of peoples (gammim) ( 28. 3);—a nation (goh'y), and an assembly of nations (goh-im), 35. 11.

The peoples of the nation, whether viewed in its lineal stream or in its offset streams, is not the same thing as the nation and nations of the peoples.)

Gen. 48. 19. (Jacob blessing Joseph's sons).

He shall become a people (gahm) but

his seed shall become the fullness of nations (goh-im). Also, B. Gen. 48:4 (gammim).

Gen. 49:10. (Jacob blessing Judah) until Shiloh come; and to him shall

the gathering of the people (pl., gammim) be

Gen. 49:16. Dan shall judge his people (gahm).

Gen. 1. 20. To save much people (kahm) alive.

Writing as an inquirer, and communicating to others for their judgment, the fruits of research (for I am not now teaching the truth of God) I pause, here, feeling that the light gleaned suffices to enable me fairly to present an outline which, by stating it here, may be tested in our further study of the subject.

1. The family of Noah was divided into three families under Japheth, Ham and Shem. These families, however, (broken up as to places of settlement,) seem each to have retained its own individuality. The three races of men, and the history of man, and God's prophecies of the time when He will, toward the end, take up openly the government of the earth in Israel, connect themselves with this.

2. It has been said by a historian lately, that the irruption of the hordes of wild unsubdued humanity has been one instrument in the hands of divine government too much overlooked. The ummah seem to be much such.

3. Twins at a birth may be strongly contrasted in characters, habits, ways, and may be destined to become, the one the channel of testimony for God, and the other of the lawlessness of man when (though outwardly born, and standing • in the channel of testimony), he neither knows God, nor owns him. Such an offset from what was of God ever starts aside, and is in conflict with, and a sore to, that which God keeps for Himself. Such, I think, are the l'ummim.

4. Goh' y. A body of people may be corporate in some sense, without forming what we should call a nation. A family is under government, and has a corporate unity; as that of Noah and that of Abraham. A clan, as were the descendants of each of Noah's sons, must

have become, like other clans, a body corporate, though the rule in a clan is rather that of a family or large colony than that of a nation. So would it be in a combination of nations under one supreme head; it would be a body corporate under one government, or under the government of one.

This was what Napoleon I. aimed at in Europe, and what prophecy shows us is in prospect for the earth. Rev. 13-tyranny over many nations (if the beast and false prophet are in power), or of blessed absolute rule from God (if the Lord Jesus is reigning).

5. But the people is a term presenting rather the subject matter of such-a family, families, clan, nation..

The peoples (in the plural) would be the aggregates or collections of these, subject to such various ruling powers.

As to words, I hold that, without any question, context and occurrences must decide the meanings and the shades of meaning in every language. Passow's labors as followed out by Liddell and Scott, in their Greek-English Lexicon, is an illustration of this principle. But if this is true as to classical Greek, much more must it be true as to Hebrew and Chaldee, and as to Greek as used for and in Scripture. The extent, too, to which context rules in the Hebrew language is peculiar, and (consequent thereon) the value of the occurrences of words as showing the shades of their meaning in the Old Testament. In the New Testament Greek, context and occurrences therein should be considered as of primary importance; and the LXX. or Greek Old Testament, which already existed in the days of Christ and His apostles, may well take precedence of the stores of classical lore.

Having given a specimen above of my mode and manner of getting at the force of a word, I now add a lexicographical extract presenting a different mode and manner.

If I took the established system of lexicography as my guide, I should begin with the respective roots [each of them of three letters, and each a verb] of these four words, ummah, goh'y, l'ohm and kahm:-

1. From אמֵם an unused (or non-existent) word- the primary idea of which, to join together, is supposed to be the meaning-is derived unmet, a people.

2. From גָוָה also unused- of which to flow together is supposed to be the primary idea-is derived goh'y, a people, properly a confluence of men.

3. From לָאַם, also unused-the primary idea of which—is said to be to agree, be congruent,-is derived l'ohm a people, nation.

4. From עָמֵם which does occur [Ezek. 28:3, and 31. 8, but in the sense "to hide;" and Lam. 4:1, hoph., "become dim " perhaps, " caused to be hidden" (as to their excellency)]-the primary idea of which is to gather together, collect-is derived kahm, a people.

So that, according to supposed derivation, the primary ideas of these several four words are:-

1.. ummah, a people as joined together; no word related to it is found in Hebrew.

2. goh'y, a people as flowed together; gah'y, a valley is said to be related to it.

3. l'ohm, a people agreeing by congruency; no word related to it is found.

4. gahm, a people gathered together: gummah conjunction, communion, is said to be related to it, and to be used adverbially as " together," and prepositionally as " with, at, near."

To have to learn 1,800 roots, a large percentage of which does not occur in the Hebrew or Chaldee of Scripture, even if they all do occur, as they are said by some to do in Arabic, Aramaic or Syriac, is a painful task. Then, too, it is unnatural to suppose action and being in a state, etc., to be the root of such words as " father, mother, people." The human mind can express itself better by the names of things than of actions, of being in a state,

etc. So I judge. I cannot, as a humble Bible student, find God and His uses of words, or His meaning of words, in such a process-as I do in my own system of studying His word and His use of words that I may know His meaning of them.

To return now to the occurrences of A., goh'y, and B., gahm, in the rest of the Pentateuch.

In. Exodus goh'y occurs but six times.

B. The greater number of citations show the word used of the people belonging or attached to some one-as, a, Pharaoh's people, people of Egypt:-

Ex. 1:9,22; and 5. 16., and 8. 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 21, 23, 29, 31; and 9. 14, 15; and 11. 3; and 14. 6.

b. Of Israel, Jehovah's " my people."

Ex. 1:9,20; and 3. 7, 10, 12, 21; and 4. 16, 21, 30, 31; and 5. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10, 12, 22, 23, 23; and 6. 7, and 7. 4, 14, 16; and 8. 1, 8, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 32, and 9. 1, 7, 13, 17; and 10. 3, 4; and 11. 2, 3, 8; and 12. 27, 31, 33, 34, 36; and 13. 3, 17, 17, 18, 22; and 14. 5, 5, 13, 31; and 15. 13, 16, 16, 24; and 16. 4, 27, 30; and17. 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6; and 18. 1, 10, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26; and 19. 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 25; and 20. 18, 18, 20, 21; and 22. 25, 28; and 23. 11; and 24. 2, 3, 3, 7, 8; and 30. 33, 38; and 31. 14; and 32. 1, 1, 3, 6, 17, (the people), 21, 22, 25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 36; and 36. 5, 6.

Observe, now, these juxtapositions of the two words.

1. A. Ex. 9:24, since Egypt became a nation (goh'y).

B. 27, (Pharaoh says) I and my people (gahm), are wicked.

2. B. 19. 5, treasure unto me above all peoples (pl., gammim).

A. 19. 6, a kingdom of priests and an holy nation(goh’y),

3. B. Israel, Moses's wicked people (gahm), 32. 7, 9, 9; and 33. 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 10, 12 3, and 34. 9.

I will make of thee a great nation (goh'y),32. 10.

Nay, says Moses they are thy people (gahm), 32. 11, 12; and 33. 13, 16, 16.

A. B. Consider that this nation (goh'y), is thy people (gahm).3 3. 13.

B.A. 34. 10, 10, 10. before all thy people (gahm, of Moses)... in all the earth, nor in all the nations (goh-im), all the people (gahm), aiming whom thou art, and 24, all the nations (goh-im).

These can hardly be said to be classified:- B. 15. 14. The peoples (gammim, pl.) shall hear. B. 33. 16. all the people on the face of the earth

(read the verse.)

B.17. 13. Amalek's people; 32. 7, 9, 9; Israel, as Moses's.

21. 8. Any strange people; and 23. 27.

LEVITICUS.

Goh'y.-As a matter of fact, this word occurs in Leviticus in the singular but once, and in the plural but six times.

A. Lev. 18:24. The nations (goh-im) are defiled which I cast out before you.

28. It spued out the nations before you.

20. 23. Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation (goh'y) which I cast out.

44. The heathen that are round about you.

33. Scatter you among the heathen.

38. Perish among the heathen.

45. In the sight of the heathen.

B. gahm.

1. Notice " the people " used as of a class or order, inside of Israel in contrast with priests, Levites, rulers.

Lev. 4.3. If the priest sin according to the sin of the people;

27. If any one of the common people (i.e., people of the land) sin. Compare xx. 2, 1.

9. 7. Make an atonement for thyself, and for the people, and offer the offering of the people, so 15, 15, 18, 22, 23, 23, 24; and 10. 3; and 16. 15, 24, 24, 33.

2. Of Israel.

Lev. 17:4. Cut off from among his people, so 10, and 18. 29; and 19. 8; and 20. 3, 5, 6, 17, 18; and 23. 30.

3. Of people other than Israel.

Lev. 20:24. I the Lord... separated you from (other) peoples (pl. gammim).

26. I.. severed you from (other) peoples (pl.) that ye should be mine.

4. Jehovah's.

Lev. 26:12. I will be your God, and ye shall be for a people to me.

5. Peoples (gammim, pl.) is used of the Israelites as round about one of themselves who is under judgment.

Lev. 7:20,21,25,27. Cut off from his peoples; so 17. 9; and 19. 8; and 21. 1, 4, 15; and 23. 29. Compare as, in contrast.

A. 28. 24, 28. the nations, the nations.

B. 28., 29. their people (see above?)

A. 20. 23. the nation cast out before you.

B. 20. 24, 26 (see above, 3.)

A. 26. 33, 38, 45. heathen.

B. 26. 12. my people (see above, 4)

IN NUMBERS

The word Goh' y occurs but five times; viz.:-

Num. 14:12. will make of thee (Moses) a greater nation.

15. the nations which have

23. 9. (Israel) shall not be reckoned among the nations (goh-im).

24. 8. (it) shall eat up the nations.

20. Amalek (was) the first of the nations. The following are the occurrences of gahm.

1. The people Israel.

Num. 5:21. A curse among thy people (the adulteress); so 27, and ix. 13.

11. 1. (when) the people complained, it displeased the Lord; so 2, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 24, 29, 32,

33, 33, 34, 35; and 12. 15, 16; and 13. 30; and 14. 1, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 19, 39; and 15. 26 (and the stranger among thee), so 30; and 16. 47, 47, and 20. 1, 3; and 21. 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 16, 18; and 22. 3, 5, 6, 11, 12, 17, 41; and 23. 9, 24; and 24. 14; and

25. 1, 2, 2, 4; and 31. 3; and 33. 15; and 33. 14.

2. "The people " as of Canaan, ere Israel came thither.

Num. 13:18. (Moses sent spies to Canaan to see

what were) the people of it; (Anak), so

28, 31, 32; and 14. 9; of Edom, 20.

20; of Arad, 21. 2; of Sihon, 21. 23;

of Chemosh, 21. 29; of Og, 21. 33,

34, 35; of Balak, 22. 5; 24. 14; of Balaam, 24. 14.

3. Jehovah's people.

Num. 16:41. Ye have killed Jehovah's people.

4. 20. 24. Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; so Moses, 24. 13; and 31. 2.

5. 31. 32. The prey which the men of war had caught.

Observe the contrasts:-

B. Num. 14:11. How long will this people (gahm) provoke me. I will smite them (Israel rebellious) and

xiv. 12. make of thee a greater and mightier

nation (goh'y).

13. Then the Egyptians shall hear, for

thou broughtest this people (gahm) from among them.

15. if thou kill this people (gahm) as one man, then

A. 15, the nations (goh-im) will say, because

he was not able to bring this people (gahm)) into the land, he slew them.

Again:-

A. 23. 9; and B. 23. 9, 24; and 24. 8.

The people (gahm) shall dwell alone, and shall not be

reckoned among the nations (goh-im). 24, the people (gahm' shall rise up as a great lion.

Num. 24:8. it shall eat up the nations (goh-im).

IN DEUTERONOMY

The word Goh'y, A., occurs forty-four times. We muss look at these occurrences in the way we did as to those of Genesis.

1st, gahm is used of:-

B. the people, a, of Israel.

Deut. 2:4. Command thou the people; so 16; and 28; and iv. 10, 20; (a people of inheritance); and v. 28; and 10. 11, 15; and 13. 9; and 14. 2, 21, a holy people, a peculiar people... above all the nations (pl. gammim)... on the earth, so 28. 9: and 16. 18; and 17. 13, 16; and 20. 2, 5, 8, 9, 9; and 21. 8, 8; and 27. 1, 9 (of the Lord), 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; and 28. 9; and 31. 12,16; and 32. 44.

Of Canaan, Anak.

Deut. 1:28, people greater and taller than we; and called goh-im, A., 8. 20.

Of the Emims, 2. 10.

Of the Zamzummim, 2. 21.

Of all nations, ii. 25.

4. 19.

Of Sihon, 2. 32, 33.

Of Og, 3. 1, 2, 3.

Any people, 4. 33; and 6. 14; and 7. 16, 19; and 8. 7.

Of a class in Israel, 17. 7; and 18. 3. the priest's due from the people.

k. Of the mass of any people, 20. 1, 11, 16.

1. Of all peoples (pl.) of the earth, 28. 10, 37.

m. Of any people, 28. 32, 33.

Contrasts of the two words.

I. B. Deut. 4:6. In the sight of the nations (gammim).

A. 4. 6. this great nation (goh'y) is a wise

and understanding, B. people (gahm)

A. 7, 8. For what nation (goh'y) is so

great and wise; and 6 (gahm).

B. Deut. 4:27. Scatter you among the nations

(gammim),

A. and few in number among the

heathen (goh-im).

B.- Deut. 4:33. Did (ever) people (gahm) hear the

voice of God.

A. 4. 34. God... take a nation (goh'y)

from the midst of another nation (goh'y).

A. 38. To drive out nations (goh-im) before

thee.

4. A. Deut. 7:1. Bath cast out many nations (goh-im)

.. seven nations (goh-im) greater than thou.

B. 6. Thou (art) an holy people(gahm)... a

special people (gahm) to himself, above all peoples (pl. gammim).

7. The Lord did not set his love on you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any peoples (pl. gammim)... for ye were the fewest, the fewest of all peoples (pl.)

Thou shalt be blessed above all peoples (pl.)

17. If thou shalt say... these nations

(pl. goh-im) are mightier than I; how can I dispossess them.

19. So shall the Lord... do unto all

the peoples (gammim).

A. 22. Thy God will put out those nations

(pl. goh-im).

v. A. Deut. 9:1. Go in to possess nations (pl. goh-im).

B. 2.. a people great and tall, the children

of the Anakims.

4, 5. for the wickedness of these nations

(goh-im).

6. thou (art) a stiffnecked people.

thy people which thou (Moses) hast brought.

I have seen the people... it (is) a stiffnecked people.

A. Deut. 9.14. I will make of thee a nation (goh'y) mightier... than they.

destroy not thy people.

look not to the stubbornness of this people.

29. they are thy people.

6. A. Goh'y is used of the nations (goh-im)-

of Canaan, 11. 23, 23; and 12. 2, 29, 30; and 15. 6, 6; and 17. 14; and 18. 9, 14; and 19. 1; and 20. 15.

of the earth, 28. 1, 12, 65.

of one which is to be the scourge-nation, 28. 36, 49, 49, 50.

Compare the contrasts of A 20. 15. And 20. 16 B.

vu. A. Deut. 26:5. A. Syrian ready to perish (was) my father, and he went down into Egypt... and became a great nation (goh'y). (19) to make thee high above all nations.

B. 15. bless thy people Israel. (18) his

peculiar people; (19) an holy people.

8. Compare B. 28. 64; and 28. 65 A.

B. Scatter you among all peoples (pl. gammim),

A. and among those nations (goh-im).

9. Compare B 29. 13. a people to himself (gahm)... God... of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

A. 16, 18, 24. through the nations (goh-im);

the gods of the nations; all nations;

10. A. 30. 1. to mind among all the nations

(goh-im).

B. 3. from all the nations (gammim).

11. A. 31. 3. he will destroy these nations (of

Canaan).

B. 7. thou (Joshua) must go with this

people.

12. B. 32. 6. O foolish people (gahm).

8. When the Most High divided to

the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam,

he set the bounds of the peoples (pl. gammim) according to the number of the children of Israel. (9). For the Lord's portion (is) his people (gahm).

B. Deut. 32.21. They have moved me to jealousy with (that which is) not. God, I will move them to jealousy with (those which are) not a people (gahm),

A. with a foolish nation (goh'y).

28. They (Israel) are a nation void of counsel,

36. the Lord shall judge his people,

43. Rejoice, O ye nations (goh-im), with his people (gahm) merciful...to his people.

50, 50. gathered to his people.

13. Throughout 33. gahm alone is used; as ver. 3, he loved the people; (5) the heads of the people. (7). Judah, and bring him to his people.

17. He (Joseph) shall push the people (pl.) together to the ends of the earth... the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh.

19. (Zebulun) they shall call the peoples (pl.) unto the mountain.

21. (Gad) he came with the heads of the people.

29. Israel... people saved of the Lord.

I remark here, First, That to suppose that the word goh'y is a word of low use, and applied only to what is mean, or that it is equivalent to heathen or to Gentile, is a mistake which has no warrant for it in Scripture. See in proof of this:-

Gen. 12:2. I will make of thee (Abram) a great nation.

18. 18. become a great... nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

See also, 20. 4; and 21. 13, 18; and 35. 11; and, 46. 3. Ex. 19:6; and- 32. 10; and 33. 13.

Num. 14:12. Deut. 4:6,7,8,34.

A body, or a people—under a government is, I conceive,

the primary idea of it. That governments in the plural-would stand in contrast with the one body of people whom He Jehovah par excellence governed, is clear, and so the word in the plural is used of all bodies of individuals under government of the nations, in contrast with

Jehovah's nation, Israel.

When the word goh'y is applied to Israel, then,' Israel

is looked at merely as a whole body under government, instead of as a congregation in association with Himself their God and King. That this is a cold, chilly way of their God and King speaking of them, when in disobedience, may be true.

Secondly. That all the words kindred to and of the

same family as gahm present the idea of conjunction with,

nearness to, association around, etc. As, for instance,

1. The word עמֵּה f.goommah, as translated-over against,

Ex. 25:27; and 28. 27; and 37. 14, etc.; answerable to, Ex. 38:18; hard by the backbone, Lev. 3:9; threw stones at him, 2 Sam. 16:13; ward against ward, 1 Chron. 25:8, etc.; in all points as he came, so shall he go, Eccl. 5:16; face strong against... face,.. forehead... against... forehead, Ezek. 3:8; the wheels

were beside them, 10. 19, etc.

2.עם gim, with, near, at, by, etc.

Gen. 18:23. Destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24. 12. show kindness unto my master Abraham.

25. 11. Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.

31. 24. speak not to Jacob.

Deut. 8:5. Consider in thine heart.

9. 7. rebellious against the Lord.

Josh. 7:2. beside Beth-aven,

22. 7. among their brethren.

Judg. 20:38. the men of Israel and (m. with).

1 Sam. 2:21. Samuel grew before the Lord.

16. 12. ruddy (and) withal of a beautiful.

2 Sam. 6 accompanying (m. with) the ark.-

21. 4. no silver nor gold of Saul.

2 Chron. 21:19. fell out by reason of his sickness.

Neh. 5:18. yet fur all this required not I

Job 9:26. passed away as the swift ships;

Psa. 72:5. as long as the sun and moon endure

(lit. with the sun and before the moon).

73. 5. neither are they plagued like (m. with)

other men.

Ecc. 2. 16. no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool.

3. So again, עָמִיח gah-meeth, mh is rendered ten times.

neighbor, twice another, and once (Zech., 13. 7), " the man that is my fellow."

This last passage out of the thirteen occurrences of the word is greatly to be noted as expressive of fellowship.

If asked for definitions, I should say as to goh'y:-

1st. " A mass of persons, manifestly one under a government of its own;" and 2, as to gahm, " The people. or persons who form such a manifest mass or body."

As to 1. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,—the heads of the nation Israel, are looked at in Scripture very much in their individual characters (perhaps the place assigned to each of them as types led. to this), yet each of them was in-his day the head of a powerful clan; then the family for it was (so far as the channel of testimony was concerned) one, went down into Egypt and waxed great.

As to 2. A_ people, and the character of-each in it, is-formed by its religion as to the Supreme Being, and by its policy with regard to one another, and to those outside, hence in thought and habit, fears and hopes, one.

It is important to learn and to bear in mind the ways of God,-and His ways, not only in His dealings with ourselves as individuals, but His ways with the Church, with Israel, and with the Gentiles: with the Church, as in one aspect, divine and heavenly (that is in Christ), and, in another aspect, pervertedly human and worldly, spoiled by Satan in man's hand. But we may look at the subject a little more abstractedly in connection with what has been the channel of His testimony from the beginning. His actions bring before us:-The mass, selection, and rejection; election and selection; out of the mass a channel chosen afresh and so on.

Adam and Eve; Abel slain for his good works, by. Cain, the murderer, head of the world which enjoys itself out of God's presence; Seth; Seth, a pedigree; Enoch walked with God, and was taken to God; Noah who found grace before the Lord,-Noah walked with God and was passed through the deluge from the earth that was to that which now is.

Adam and Eve had Seth for the channel of God's testimony. Abel had died a martyr,- Cain was the murderer, head of a wicked world deluding itself by self-enjoyment, out of God's presence;-and Adam "begat sons and daughters," Gen. 5:4.

Seth had Enos, and Enos had Cainan, etc., etc., down to Lamech. Each head in the pedigree (save one) had this testimony, " and he died:" "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Seth and all of them begat sons and daughters.

Noah was son of Lamech. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord; walked with God, and was passed with his wife, three sons, and their wives, through the deluge from the earth which was on to that which now is. Shem, Ham, and Japheth were Noah's three sons, whose families became the stock of the earth which was to witness and be a witness of God's patience in providence (in spite of man's sin, viii. 21, 22), Noah failed, ix., and -Ham; but Shem stood as the line chosen for the channel of testimony down to Abram; though the city and Tower of Babel marked the sin of all in his day, and the disbelief in God as revealed in 8. 21, 22.

Abram subject of a call from the Lord-possessor of earthly and heavenly promises-had three sons, Ishmael, Isaac, Midian, each of them, like Shem, Ham, and Japheth, heads of families, and other children too.

Lot was near kinsman of Abram and became the father of Moab and Ammon. But the channel of testimony and blessing ran through Isaac and his younger son by Rebecca, Jacob, (leaving his first-born, Esau, to become the head of Edom and, Gen. 36:12,16, of Amalek).

The principles of Headship, lineal descent (sovereign wisdom and love making its choice of what to do therewith and therein), the channel still continued (though side channels might open out on either side from it half way between the masses (of which the destiny no one knew save God) and the channel of testimony;- these things ought to be marked if we would have the intelligence becoming those taught of God—and be prepared for the scenes of the latter day in which it all results.

APPENDIX I.

1 may present, here, as gleaned in my own looking through the rest of the Old Testament (the Psalms excepted, which will be found elsewhere) the following.

JOSHUA.

I. Compare in 3. 16, B. and the people ('gahm), passed over, and 17 A. until all the people (goh'y) were passed clean over.

That is, B. is the people (‘gahm) of the national body (goh’y)

A. is the national body (goh'y) of the people (gahm). Just as we say,-the sheep of a flock pass over till the whole flock of sheep is passed clean over; the soldiers of a company cross over, till all the company of soldiers is safe over.

iv. 1. A. when all the people (goh'y) were clean passed over.

2. B. take you twelve people (gahm), out of every tribe a man.

v. 4. B. all the people (gahm) that came out of Egypt; (5) all the people... were circumcised: but all the people that were born.

In the above, the thought is distributive, and so gahm is used; in what follows, it is collective, and so goh'y is found.

A. ver. 6. all the people (goh'y) that were men of war.

8. had done circumcising all the people (goh'y).

10. 7. B. he and all the people (gahm) of war, (and see ver. 21 and 33).

13. A. until the people (goh'y) had avenged

themselves upon their enemies.

17. 14. B. I (tribe of Joseph) am a great people, so 15, 17.

23. 3, 4, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, A. the nations expelled before Israel.

Note also, as to B. the difference between "people" (gahm) Israel, and "peoples" (gammim).

24. 16. the people (gahm) (Israel)... said: (17) among all the peoples (gammim), through whom we passed... (18,) Brave out from before us all the peoples.

FROM JUDGES.

2. 12. B. [Israel] followed other gods, of the gods of

the peoples... round about them.

20. A. this people (goh'y) has transgressed (the whole

was inculpated).

2. 21. I will not henceforth drive out any more from before them of the nations which Joshua left (so ver. 23).

B. in. 18. he sent away the people that bare the present.

v. 14. Benjamin among thy people, so ver. 18.

IN RUTH

Goley does not occur. But we read of the Lord's people, and of Naomi's, Orpah's, Ruth's and Boaz's, etc.

IN 2 SAMUEL

Notice 7. 23. What one nation (goh'y) in the earth is like thy people (gahm)... whom God went to redeem for a people (gahm) to himself, and to make him a great name... before thy people (gahm), which thou redeemedst... from the nations (goh-im), and B. (24); for thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel (to be) a people (gahm) to thee forever.

22. 48. bringeth down the peoples (gammim, pl.) under me.

50. I will give thanks to thee among the heathen (goh-im).

IN 1 KINGS

Notice-

B. 3. 9. able to judge this thy so great a people

4. 31. his fame was in all nations.

5. 7. a wise son over this great people.

A. 6. 2. (Solomon loved many strange wives) of the nations.

14. 24. the abominations of the nations.

18. 10. no nation or kingdom; 10.

2 KINGS.

A. 6. 18. Smite this people (goh’y)... with blindness (collective).

B. 16. 15. the burnt offering of all the people of

the land (distributive).

Note, here, as to the goh-im:-

A. 16. 3. the abominations of the heathen (goh-im), whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel (the seven nations, Deut. 7:1.)

but A. 17. 24, 26, 29, 33, 41. the goh-im were not only the seven nations (as referred to, 16. 3), but nations moved by Shalmaneser to the land.

any of the four empires, as such;-yet compare Zech. 1:21. and see as to the use of the word in the prophets as to the separate heads of these four monarchies.

I CHRONICLES.

A. 16. 24. his glory among the heathen (goh-im),

his marvelous works among the nations (gammim, peoples).

A.& B. 17. 21. what one nation' (goh'y) in the earth (is) like thy people (gahm) Israel, whom God went to redeem (to be) his own people (gahm).

by driving out nations (goh-im) from before thy people (gahm).

2 CHRONICLES.

6. 33. that all the people (pl. peoples) of the earth may know thy name.

B. 33. as cloth thy people Israel.

B. 33. 15. no god of any nation... was able to deliver his people.

EZRA.

3. 1. the people [Israel]... gathered together as one man.

B. 3. because of the people (peoples) of those

countries.

B. 9. 1. The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves

from the people (pl. peoples) of the lands.

NEHEMIAH.

10. 28. the rest of the people [Israel]... from

the peoples of the lands.

ESTHER.

3. 8. a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples.

PROVERBS.

B. 14. 28. see under l'ohm.

A. 14. 34. ”

B. 24.. 24. “

B. 28.. 15. a roaring lion, and a ranging bear:-a wicked ruler over a poor people.

B. 30. 25. ants (are) a people not strong.

26. conies (are but) a feeble folk.

ISAIAH.

A. 2. 2. all nations shall flow unto it.

B. 3. And many peoples shall go and say.

A. 4. he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many (B.) peoples.

A. 28. 2. Go... to a nation scattered and peeled,

B to a people terrible from their beginning.

A. a nation meted out and trodden down; so

ver. 7.

A. 26. 2. the righteous nation which keepeth the truth.

B. 42. 6. I give thee for a covenant of the people

A. (Israel), for a light of the Gentiles;Comp. 49. 7 and 8, with 6.

43. 21. this people have I formed for myself.

B. 42. 10. prepare ye the way of the people (Israel)

... lift up a standard for the peoples;.. (12) they shall call them (Israel), The Holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.

A. 46. 8. a nation (Israel)... born at once... (12) the glory of the Gentiles (ver. 18) all nations... shall come and see my glory.

JEREMIAH.

B. 13. 11. as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear.

27. 13. die, thou and thy people (B.).. as the Lord hath spoken against that nation (A.) that will not serve the king of Babylon.

31. 36. if those ordinances (sun, moon, stars, etc.) depart from before me,... then.. Israel also shall cease from being a nation (A.) before me forever.

33.. 24. Considerest thou not what this people (B.) have spoken, saying, The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he bath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people (B.), that they should be no more a nation (A.) before them.

[Compare with Ezek. 37:21.]

EZEKIEL.

2. 3. Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation (A.) that hath [lit. to rebellious nations (gohim) that have] rebelled against me.

3. 6. not to many peoples (B.) of a strange speech.

37. 21, 22. I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen (goh-im), whither they

be gone, and I will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation (lit. for one goh'y) in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one kin.: shall be king-to them all; and they shall be no more two nations (lit. for two goh-im), neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. [Note this passage well.]

23. so shall they be my people (ammi), and [ will be their God.

Dan. 12:1. at that time shall Michael stand... for thy people (B.).. since there was a nation (A.)... and at that time thy people (B.) shall be delivered.

Hos. 1:9,10. and ii. 1, 23. lo-ammi and ammi.

Note that never occurs in the Chaldee parts of he

Bible.

In conclusion, I believe that if our translators had always rendered,—lst, " Goh'y " by nation, and the plural of it by nations; and 2ndly, " "Gahm" by people, and the plural of it by peoples, they would have made the translation of more value, and more easy to be understood.

These are the 2nd and the 4th of the four words about which our inquiry commenced. The 1st of the four, " Ummah," might be, perhaps, fairly rendered by folk, and the plural by folks.

As to the 3rd, The great difficulty is to find any word in English which could be made to serve in English as its representative. The meaning is clear enough. What had been God's channel of promise and testimony, actually, at certain points, split in twain-forked off into two lines. Each of these was a " l'ohm," a branch, in the forked family. One only of them, however, was acknowledged as the line of promise,-the other put forward pretensions and had a history in connection with the true thing, and has still a being, and will have a future, but the branched family has but one of its branches owned as the real thing. Israel will be alone in its glory. Coalesce,

in wickedness, it and all the branches and the goh-im may as in Psa. 2:1. See also Isa. 8 and ix. -

As it may be of interest to some minds to look at the outline of the occurrences in another form, I add this. abstract.

The book of GENESIS gives us the origin of things down here on earth,-of (pretty nearly) all that we meet with.

It has 50 chapters, and is contained in 37 pages (Bagster's).

Ummah occurs 1, and goh'y 26, and l'ohm 4, and kahm 33 times.

In EXODUS we learn of the redemption of a people out of bondage, and the pitching of the tabernacle of worship and government.

It has 40 chapters, and is contained in 30 pages. Ummah occurs 0, and goh'y 6, and l'ohm 0, and kahm 173 times.

LEVITICUS. The book of sacrificial service, of the Priesthood, Levites and People-in their worship.

It has 27 chapters and 23 pages.

Ummah occurs 0, and goh'y 7, and l'ohm 0, and kahm 41 times.

NUMBERS presents the camp in the wilderness. It has 36 chapters, and occupies 32 pages.

Ummah, occurs 1, and goh'y 5, and l'ohm 0, and k ahnz 87 times.

DEUTERONOMY presents the grounds on which Israel, having lost all in self-righteousness, will, through the second giving of the law, gain all, viz., through the obedience of faith.

It contains 34 chapters in 27 pages.

Ummah occurs 0, and goh'y 44, and l'ohm 0, and gahm 107 times.

*** Any one who has read the foregoing article carefully will see that the translators of our authorized English version practically assumed that there was no difference between goh'y and 'gahm, a mistake which detracts from the value of their work.

APPENDIX II. THE OCCURRENCES IN THE PSALMS.

2. 1. Why do the goh-im rage, and the /'ummim imagine a vain thing?

8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the goh-im for thine inheritance, and the uttermost

parts of the earth for thy possession.

3. 6. I will not be afraid of ten,thousands of the gahm that have set themselves against b

me round about.

8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy gahm.

7. 7. So shall the congregation of the l'ummim compass thee about: for their sakes, therefore, return thou on high.

8. The Lord shall judge the gammim: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness.

9. 5. Thou hast rebuked the goh-im, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name forever and ever.

8. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the l’ummim in uprightness.

11. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the gammim his doings.

15. The goh-im are sunk down in the pit that they made.

17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and

all the goh-im that forget God.

Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the goh-im be judged in thy sight.

Put them in fear, O Lord: that the goh-im

may know themselves to be but men.

10. 16. The Lord is King forever and ever: the

goh-im are persihed out of his land.

14. 4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my gahm as they eat bread.

7. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his gahm.

18. 27. For thou wilt save the afflicted gahm; but wilt bring down high looks.

43. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the goh-im: and thou hast made me the head of the goh-im,: a gahm whom I have not known shall serve me.

47. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the gammim under me.

49. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the goh-im, and sing praises unto thy name.

22. 6. But I am a worm, and no man: a reproach of men, and despised of the gahm.

All the ends of the world shall... turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the goh-im shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is governor among the goh-im.

31. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a gahm, that shall be born, that he path done this.

28. 9. Save thy gahm, and bless thine inheritance.

29. 11. The Lord will give strength unto his gahm; the Lord will bless his gahm with peace.

33. 10. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the goh-im to naught: he maketh the devices of the gammim of none effect.

12. Blessed is the goh'y whose God is the Lord; and the gahm whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.

35. 18. I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among a great gahm.

43. 1. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly goh'y: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

44. 2. How thou didst drive out the goh-im with thine hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the l'ummim, and cast them out.

11. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; thou hast scattered us among the goh-im.

12. Thou sellest thy gahm for naught, and lost not increase thy wealth by their price.

14. Thou makest us a byword among the goh-im, a shaking of the head among the l'ummim.

45. 5. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the gammim fall under thee.

10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own gahm, and thy father's house.

12. And the daughter of Tire shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the gahm shall entreat thy favor.

17. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the gammim praise thee forever.

46. 6. The goh-im raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

10. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the goh-im, I will be exalted in the earth.

97. 1. O clap your hands, all ye gammim; shout unto God with the voice of triumph..

3. He shall subdue the gammim under us, and the l’ummim under our feet.

8. God reigneth over the goh-im: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.

9. The princes of the gammim are gathered together, even the gahm of the God of Abraham.

49. 1. Hear this, all ye gammim; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.

100. 4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his

gahm.

7. Hear, O my gahm, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee:

I am God, even thy God.

53. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my gahm as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.

6. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his gahm, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

56. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the gammim, O God.

57. 9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the gammim: I will sing unto thee amongst

the l’ummim.

59. 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the goh-im: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors.

8. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the goh-im in derision.

11. Slay them not, lest my gahm forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

60. 3. Thou hast showed thy gahm, hard things, and thou hast made us to drink the

wine of astonishment.

62. 8. Trust in him at all times; O gahm, pour out your heart before him: God is a

refuge for us.

65. 7. Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of

the l’ummim.

66. 7. He ruleth by his power forever; his eyes behold the goh-im: let not the rebellious exalt themselves.... 66. 8. O bless our God, ye gammin and make the voice of his praise to be heard.

67. 2. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all goh-im.

3. Let the gammim praise thee, O God; let all the gammim praise thee.

4. 0 let the l’ummim be glad, and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the gammim righteously, and govern the l'ummim upon earth.

5. Let the gammim praise thee, O God; let all the gammim praise thee.

68.. 7. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy gahm, when thou didst march through the wilderness.

22. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bastian; I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea.

30. Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the gammim, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the gammim that delight in war.

35. The God of Israel is he that giveth strength

and power unto his gahm.

72. 2. He shall judge thy gahm with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

The mountains shall bring peace to the gahm, and the little hills, by righteousness.

He shall judge the poor of the gahm, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him:

all goh-im shall serve him.

17. And men shall be blessed in him: all goh-im shall call him blessed.

73. 10. Therefore his gahm return hither; and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.

74. 14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest- him to be meat to the gahm inhabiting the wilderness.

18. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish gahm have blasphemed thy name.

77. 14. Thou hast declared thy strength among the gammim.

15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy gahm, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

20. Thou leddest thy gahm like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

78. 1. Give ear, O my gahm, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

20. Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his gahm?

52. But made his own gahm to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

55. He cast out the goh-im also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

62. He gave his gahm over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.

71. From following the ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his gahm, and Israel his inheritance.

79. 1. O God, the goh-im are come into thine in-" heritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

6. Pour out thy wrath upon the goh-im that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

10. Wherefore should the goh-im say, Where is their God? let him be known among the goh-im in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

79. 13. So we thy gahm and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever: we will show forth thy praise to all generations.

80. 4. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with the prayer of thy gahm?

. 8.. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the goh-im, and planted it.

81. 8. Hear, O my gahm, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me.

11. But my gahm would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

13. O that my gahm had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

82. 8. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all goh-im.

83. 3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy kahm, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a goh'y, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

85.2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy gahm thou hast covered all their sin.

6. Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy gahm may rejoice in thee?

8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his gahm, and to his saints.

86. 9. All goh-im whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; -and shall glorify thy name.

6. The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the gammim, that this man was born there.

89. 15. Blessed is the k gahm that knoweth the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

19. I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the gahm.

50. Remember, O Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty gammim.

94. 5. They break in pieces thy k a km, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.

8. Understand, ye brutish among the gahm: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

10. He that chastiseth the goh-im, shall not he correct.

14. For the Lord will not cast off his k a km, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

95. 7. We are the gahm of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

10. It is a gahm that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.

96. 3. Declare his glory among the goh-im, his wonders among all the gammim.

5. For all the gods of the gammim are idols;

but the Lord made the heavens.

7. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the gammim, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

10. Say among the goh-im the Lord reigneth; the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved; he shall judge the gammim righteously.

13. He cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the gammim with his truth.

97. 6. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the gammim see his glory.

98. 2. His righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the goh-im.

9. With righteousness shall he judge the world, and the gammim with equity.

99. 1. Let the gammim tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

2. The Lord is great in Zion, and he is high above all the gammim. _

100. 3. Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are his k ohm, and the sheep of his pasture.

102. 15. So the goh-im shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

18. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the gahm which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

22. When the gammim are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

105. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the gammim.

13. When they went from one gohy to another goh'y, from one kingdom to another "gahm.

20. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the gammim, and let him go free.

24. And he increased his gahm greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

25. He turned their heart to hate his gahm, to deal subtilly with his servants. .

40. The nation asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

43. And he brought forth his gahm, with joy, and his chosen with gladness:

44. And he gave them the lands of the goh-im; and they inherited the labor of the l’ummim.

106. 4. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy gahm; O visit me with thy salvation;

106. 5. That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the 'gladness of thy gahm, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

27. To overthrow their seed also among the goh-im, and to scatter them in the lands.

34. They did not destroy the k minim, concerning whom the Lord commanded them;

35. But were mingled among the goh-im, and learned their works.

40. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his gahm, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

41. And he gave them into the hand of the goh-im; and they that hated them ruled over them.

47. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the goh-im, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

48. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the gahm say Amen.

32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the gahm, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

108. 3. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the gammim, and I will sing praises to thee among the gammim.

110. 3. Thy gahm shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the dew of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

6. He shall judge among the goh-im, he shall fill the places with dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

6. He hath skewed his gahm the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the goh-im.

9. He hath sent redemption to his gahm he bath commanded his covenant forever.

113. 4. The Lord is high above all goh-im, and his glory above the heavens.

8. That he may set him with princes, even with princes of his gahm,

114.. 1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a gahm of strange language.

115. 2. Wherefore should the goh-im say, Where is now their God?

116. 14. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his gahm.

117. 1. O praise the Lord, all ye goh-im: praise him all ye ummim.

118. 10. All goh-im compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.

2. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his gahm from henceforth even forever.

2. Then said they among the goh-im, The Lord hath done great things for them.

135. 10. Who smote great goh-im and slew mighty kings.

12. And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his gahm.

For the Lord will judge his gahm, and repent himself concerning his servants.

The idols of the goh-im are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

136. 16. To him that led his gahm through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth forever.

144. 2. My shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my gahm under me.

15. Happy is that k akin that is in such a case: yea, happy is that gahm whose God is the Lord.

147. 20. He hath not dealt so with any goh' y: and as for his judgments, they have not known them.

148. 11. Kings of the earth, and all l'ummim; princes and all judges of the earth.

148. 14. He also exalteth the horn of his gahm, the praise of all his saints, even of the children of Israel, a gahm near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.

149. 4. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his Gahm: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

7. To execute vengeance upon the goh-im, and punishment upon the l'ummim.

I incline to translate 'gahm, in the singular, always as people; the same word in the plural, gammim, as peoples.

The word goh’y singular, as a nation; and its plural, goh-im, as nations.

The word l'ohm in the singular does not occur in the Psalms, the plural l'ummim does and might for distinction's sake be read "gentiles."

Life, Light, and Love

MOST students of Scripture who have made themselves acquainted with the characteristic differences of the writers, are aware that John is occupied with " that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us."

His gospel has this peculiarity, but in a way different either to his epistles, or the Apocalypse; for it marks the life' in its essential nature and character as in Himself: "In him was life," though the life was the light of men. Still He who was the life was in the world, and it lighted every man coming into it. The light shineth in darkness though the darkness comprehended it not;" but "as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." This is very blessed, as showing life communicated and in an existing relationship with the Father: " born not of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God."

It is not my purpose to trace further how this life is bestowed in the narratives of the gospel-whether with the master of Israel or the woman of Samaria, or by the quickening power of the Father and the Son at the pool of Bethesda; no, nor in its springing up to its own sources and height in communion and joy, any more than in its flowing out from us, as rivers of living water at the feast of Tabernacles. These references will recall to our minds the fact of this life being possessed by others through grace, though originally dwelling only in Christ Himself. Besides this, He took a place in the midst of His disciples as their Teacher, Example, and Guide. " I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."

Still, as to all that was external to this life in Christ and His own, and all that surrounded them-the world and men in it-had to be tested by this Life, opening itself out in unclouded light and exercised in unwearied love. Life, in the perfectness and grace which had suited itself to the necessities of mankind, and to the moral perceptions of the human heart, shone forth in all its brilliancy on behalf of God, and in its benevolence towards the lost and undone.

This formed a new responsibility for men. Would they be attracted by the love which had come after them, and could they attach themselves to supreme excellency standing in their midst, though in the form of a servant?-His higher glories hidden in the mystery of the incarnation. We know the issue of this trial of man, and how he failed to respond to such love, or even to be attracted to the Person in whom this grace dwelt, and who would not be repelled. The world failed to discern his beauty who was the altogether lovely, and the chiefest among ten thousand-nay, He was to them as a root out of a dry ground, having no form nor comeliness that they should desire Him. Man's heart could not open itself to perfect grace as presented by the Lord, but closed itself up in the wretchedness and enmity which dwelt within. He rejected heaven's one chief treasure, come down too in the fashion of a man, and standing upon the level of the lost and the guilty, " eating and drinking with publicans and sinners."

In the epistles of John, we find, consequent on the rejection of Christ as the " life, the light, and the love," that their withdrawment from a world of death, darkness, and hatred becomes the new theme of the Apostle. Accordingly," that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us" passes away into the circle of its own fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. Alas! for the world, and for men in it.

Life thus surrounding itself with its own similitudes, becomes on its part exclusive of sin and of darkness" the world, the flesh, and the devil." Jesus Christ as the righteous One takes a new place with the Father, and He is now our Advocate. Moreover, as to the maintenance of this fellowship in the light in which God dwells, " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin:" and further, " if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is the new ground of our intercourse with God, and of the communion to which we are called in the unclouded sphere suited to us-as born of God where no darkness is. Little children, young men, and fathers have equally their place and are alike at home. " These things write we unto you that your joy may be full," brightens up every heart as it passes on into its new birthrights. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and the Son gives the character and blessedness of our intercourse.

It is wonderful when we first learn to look at everything. with God, and discover how all under the heavens has enveloped itself in darkness since the true light has been cast out. For example, if' we look at the world itself in the light of our epistle, it is to learn that "all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." So again, as to our relation to it, " if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Observe, that in this fellowship in the light, the Father and what is consistent with Him, is the new test of the world's value, just as the love of the Father becomes our new principle for not loving it. Note also, that as the world, has emptied itself of Christ, and therefore of the Father, it cannot merely retain the measure, or the form of its

previous iniquity; but adds to these later-ones, and; thank God, its last. Tested by Christ it is Christless; but worse than this, for religious and ecclesiastical corruptions take His place. " Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

Further, this eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to us, is likewise in us, exclusive of all that is not consistent with the light in which God dwells, and in which our fellowship is maintained. What God is becomes our rule. " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all;" therefore darkness is excluded, or else we lie, and do not the truth, So again, as to Satan-" the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one;" and as regards the world,. "it passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever."

Empty of the Father and the Son, what has Satan further to accomplish, but to gather around himself all that is false as to God, to Christ, and to truth, and therefore suited to mankind in their state of moral alienation and enmity.

" But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things;" and in the power of this anointing we exclude everything that is not of the truth, but is a lie. " if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Father and the Son;" precious assurance 1 so that when Christ shall appear we may have confidence, " and not be ashamed before him at his coming." Love in this epistle is as exclusive of everything that will not be embraced in the circle of this blessed fellowship with the Father and the Son, as we have seen the life and the, light to have been in their respective chapters.

The love of the Father; which has made us sons of God, makes us on that account a race of persons unknown to the world. And why? Because it knew Him not. Wide as the poles asunder-wide as the distance between heaven and hell, we pass into our respective classes. " He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil -sinneth from the beginning: " on the other hand, ".whosoever is born of God cloth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." So likewise as to righteousness-the classes are in opposition one to the other; " in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." Further, as the Father and the Son are in these respects denied, so lastly, the Holy Ghost who has come down from heaven, is also set at naught, and false spirits are gone out into the world. " Hereby know ye the Spirit of God; Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." "Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

Thus we see that in the Gospel of John, life, light, and love were first embodied in Christ personally, though communicated to His disciples who believed on Him; and the world was the place in which it shone out, though as yet in the midst of the darkness and evil where Satan was and wicked men.

But in the epistles we see a fellowship formed under the unction and the anointing of the Holy Ghost, by which those who have this life are called out into separation from all that is antagonistic to God and to Christ. Not only is this separation to be maintained, but communion with the Father and the Son are to be enjoyed, as brought into the light where God dwells in the entire exclusion of whatever is not of the Father, but which maketh a lie and is the work of the devil. Fellowship or communion, in order to be such, must be in the fullest reciprocation of all the capabilities of our new nature as born of God, with the Father, and in perfect enjoyment of His love and whatever distinguishes Him, as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our God and Father through the Son of His love.

It yet remains to examine the characteristic difference of the Apocalypse from the Epistles and the Gospel. This may be described as a book revealing the ways and means by which God finally separates the evil from the good. In righteous judgment He drives Satan into the bottomless

pit, and makes all the enemies of Christ lick the dust: " then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." The strange presentation of Christ in the opening chapters of the Revelation, as the Son of Man " with eyes as a flame of fire, and a sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of His mouth," may well intimate the character of His mission to the Seven Churches. The responsible witness on earth was thus tested; whether it faithfully maintained the place of separateness to God, to Christ, and to truth in which grace had set it; and, on the other hand, whether these churches were exclusive of all evil? Alas! the first had left her early love, and into the others Satan had introduced all the corruptions, whether religious, ecclesiastical, or social that were contrary to the light in which God dwells, and opposed to the fellowship of the Father and the Son into which men in Christ were called, and in which they were originally set. The Lord Himself says of the last form of the Laodicean evil " because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Moreover, God in righteous government visits the ripening iniquity of the world under the guidance of Satan, by the seven trumpets, the seven thunders, and the seven vials; "but men blasphemed God the more for the plagues." On the other hand, " the door opened in heaven" shows how God has gathered to Himself, in Peace and blessing, the church which He had purchased with the blood of His own. All that is born of God goes up to the Father in the triumphant hour of Christ's coming, and is presented in His presence, faultless and with exceeding joy. That which is of Satan-yea, the Dragon himself, and the Beast, and the False Prophet, and all the wicked living are driven to their own place in outer darkness where no light is. The world itself is cleared of all its pollutions by the besom of destruction, and riddance made for the establishment of righteousness and holiness.

If we pass on to the close of Rev. 19, it describes the judgment of God on the great Babylon-the concentration of the proud systems of human enterprise and `greatness. "Alas! alas_! that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour so great riches is come to naught." Thus the sources and active agents of the great apostasy are judged and put aside: the gigantic growth of systematic corruption, "the mother of harlots," is burned with fire, and all the glory of man is withered like the grass of the field, but only to give place to what comes down from God out of heaven with His glory. Good and evil, light and darkness, clean and unclean, once measured in the balances of the sanctuary, or maintained in their relative distances by the perfectness of Christ when on, earth, or since by the Holy Ghost, in the man in Christ and in the church, are now separated forever by the judgment of God. Right things suited to God and Christ, to holiness and truth must now come in and take their proper places upon the foundations of jasper and sapphire. " Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife," and the angel "showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious." "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." God has separated from Himself everything contrary to Himself, and has excluded it from His presence. Life, light, and love are now together, no longer encumbered by their opposites; but free and unfettered in their own enjoyments, where all is according, to God in true holiness. '['he first man of the earth, earthy, and all the consequences of the fall are superseded, either by sovereign grace to the redeemed, or by terrible judgment on the lost: and the second man, the Lord from heaven, is the heir of all things-the beginning of the new creation of God.

Finally, this book closes by the revelation of God and the Lamb, as the light of the heavenly Jerusalem. A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeds out of the throne: the nations of them that are saved walk in the light thereof. In the midst of the street, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, whose leaves were for the healing of the nations, and they shall bring their glory and honor to it.. Blessed scenes! where God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes, when sorrow and sighing shall flee, and all the catalog of the former things connected with the flesh, the world; and Satan passed away, be forgotten and out of mind. Nothing remains but God, the Father of all the redeemed families in the heavens and on the earth: nothing is heard from the sea and upwards. but one universal song of thanksgiving and praise: nothing from the highest heaven downward but rejoicing, and the voice of melody. Life, light, and love are with God, and where God is. Sin, darkness, and death are with Satan, and where Satan is shut up; never to come in sight of each other again, throughout the countless ages of eternity. J. E. B.

New Series

N. In 2 Tim. 3. He says evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse, but Timothy was to continue in what Paul himself had taught, and hold fast to the Scriptures as able to make him wise unto salvation, and make the man of God perfect. Thus the Apostle had no thought of anything else than apostolic teaching, and the Scriptures as the security of the faithful in the perilous times of the last days. And you see too, plainly, that instead of such security and right conduct and good state of the Church continuing through the care of the successors of the Apostles perilous times were to come; and, indeed, at the end; as he tells us in 2 Thess. an apostasy; and that when the state of the professing Church made it perilous for the saint, the Scriptures, and the certain teaching of the Apostle himself would be the means of securing us by faith in Christ Jesus. The Christian would have to be secured in perils arising from the state of the Church. Paul does not refer to the hierarchy as the safeguard but to the Scriptures, and Timothy's knowing who had taught him.

James. That is very clear, M.; because if the state of the Church was so evil as to make it perilous, it could not be a security for him who desired to walk right; and if I read what St. Paul says I do know of whom I have learned it, and that and the other Scriptures will keep us through faith in Christ.

M. But you may, take a false meaning out of them. Every kind of notion and religion is come out of Scripture.

James. That I do not believe, because both you and I believe they are the truth of God, and therefore error cannot come out of them. That people, if they are not humble, and if they read Scripture with their heads' and not depending upon grace, may follow their own thoughts and wrest Scripture to prove them,-that may be;. but they cannot get anything but perfect truth out of Scripture, that you dare not deny. If they are proud, wise in their own conceits, they will reap the consequence of it, but grace will keep the humble soul. Besides, I may take a wrong meaning out of what your books or priest teach me. And, further, I do not despise at all the help of those whom God has sent and fitted to teach and help us, only they are not the rule of faith. They cannot, I see they cannot, have the authority God's Word has; they are not inspired. I must prove all things, and hold fast that which is good. That is what the Apostle tells us to do, 1 Cor. 10:15.

M. Why you are growing quite a little teacher yourself, James. What can a poor man like you know about it?

James. I know well I am not a learned man, M.; but I have faith in what I find in Scripture, and therefore am certain of the truth that is in it. Ought not I to believe what Paul says?

M. Of course; but how can you tell what he meant?

James. By what he says, and do you not believe that the grace of God will help a poor man as well as a learned one in what concerns his soul?

M. Well, I do not gainsay that.

James. And the blessed Lord who cared for the poor said, that the Father hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, even so, Father, for so it seems good in thy sight. And St. Paul says, " If any man will be wise in this world let him become a fool that he may be wise." And the Psalm says, " The entering in of' thy word gives light and understanding to the simple."

M. Where do you get all this Scripture, James?

James. Why, by reading it to be sure. You pretend we cannot understand it, M., and you have never tried. Read it, and try and see if it is not light and food for the soul. Of course we need grace for this, as for every blessing. And tell me, M., to whom did the Lord speak when he was teaching, the learned or the poor?

M. Why, they say the poor. The Scribes and Pharisees would not listen to Him.

James. And do you think He spoke so that they could understand Him if their hearts were not hardened? Alas, there are many such, poor and rich.

M. Well, I suppose, of course He did.

James. And why should not I, if I humbly seek His help. I do not know Greek, of course, but thank God it has been put into English, and I can trust Him to get the truth from it. I am not looking for a learned knowledge of it, but for the edification of my soul. Read it in your own translation. There is one they approve of, read it in that, if you won't have ours. I do not believe the blessed Lord meant to make a way for learned men to get to heaven and not for the poor. He says "to the poor the Gospel is preached," and the apostle, "not many wise men, not many rich, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise." Yet he wrote almost all his Epistles to these very people.

M. Well, what you say there, James, is reasonable. I should like to see what Scripture does say; but I do not know whether Father O. will allow me.

James. Father O. But what right can Father O. have to hinder your hearing what God has said to you. Who gave him the right to keep away God's Word from the poor that was once written to the poor. For, as Mr. N. said, the Epistles, save a few, were written to all the Christians in a place, not to the clergy.

M. Well, but you do not know whether he will hinder me.

James. Perhaps not. They would not be apt to do it when all around can read them; but how comes he to

have the right to hinder, or how comes it you are dependent on another man as to whether you may hear what God has said?

M. Well, I doubt that is right, too. But surely we ought to obey those who have the rule over us.

James. I have nothing against that, for the Scriptures say so. But how comes it they only give you these

scraps of them. If one of the family would not let me see my father's will, pretending he was wiser than me, and I was no lawyer, and I should only take a wrong sense out of it, I should not, as a. man, like it. I am not a lawyer, and he might be better able to explain lawyer's words in it; but I should like to know what my father did say. Some of it might be plain and for me, and I should know if he was keeping something back from me that was mine in what was plain. I should like to see it. And when one does see the Scripture one sees that God meant us to see it.

N*. Yes, and that is a very important point; because it is not merely going against our rights, as between man and man, but against God's rights as to His own people. And Dr. Milner lets out that Rome does not wish Christians in general to see the Scriptures. He says she has confirmed her decrees by them. She enjoins her pastors to read and study them. Finally she proves her perpetual right to announce and explain the truths, &c., by several of the strongest and clearest passages, Letter 10, but not a word of the faithful seeing or reading them. And James is quite right in what he supposes, where there are many Protestants the Bible is allowed, and occasionally to those they feel sure of elsewhere with notes; but otherwise it is not thought of, and Dr. Milner could not speak of liberty to read the Scriptures existing, because it is formally denied by the highest authority of the Romish system. The index of prohibited books had been referred to a committee by the Council of Trent. In the last session this was referred to the Pope, and the Pope sanctioned the rules they had laid down. In the fourth rule, if a person shall have presumed to read or to have a copy without the express permission of the parish priest or confessor, he cannot receive absolution till the Bible be given up; and a bookseller who sells or otherwise lets a person have one is to forfeit the value for pious uses and undergo other penalties. Dr. Milner, therefore, says the Catholic Church does not cast any slight on the Scriptures. He could not say Christians were free to read them, and M. must get leave from his priest to do so, and that in writing (Rule iv. at the end of Council of Trent), or he would not get absolution. The Romish system interferes with God's rights-His title to send His own message to His own people; and no one denies that in the primitive churches all were free to read, and encouraged to read, the Scriptures. St. Chrysostom insists on it. Nor does Pope Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) conceal that many things were done by the early Fathers which were changed by the Church in after times, on a critical examination of the matter. God has addressed His word to the people, not, save a very small part (three epistles), to the clergy, and the clergy have taken them away-taken away, as the Lord says, the key of knowledge.

M. And do you not think ignorant people may wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction, as it is said?

N. I think anyone may if he does not look for God's grace to help and guide him. But I do not think ignorant people do it a thousandth part as much as learned ones, because they come to it more simply as God's word and respect it. Whereas the learned, thinking they are able to exercise their minds on it and judge about it, do not receive it as little children. Heresies have not come from the ignorant, but from Doctors.

God has given the Scriptures to the people, and the clergy of Rome have taken them from them. And it is to God they will answer. Augustine insists largely in his book on the unity of the Church (chap. x.) against the Donatists, who insisted, just as the Romanists do now, on the obscurity of Scripture.

We may turn to another part of your rule of faith-tradition. Your Dr. Milner says, Paul puts the written and unwritten word upon a level, leaving us to suppose that this last is tradition.

James. And I thought that was tradition-a doctrine handed down from one to another.

N*. It is not, in the New Testament, except where it is condemned, when the Lord says, " Thus have ye made the word of God of none effect by your tradition." Where, remark, that traditions are put expressly in contrast with the Word of God. The Word of God was complete in itself, and their traditions set it aside, and so do Romanist traditions. But the passage Dr. M. quotes proves tradition is not used as he uses it. Where the word is used of written and unwritten the written is called tradition as well as the unwritten. It means any doctrine delivered. Now, if Paul delivered a doctrine to me by word of mouth, I ought of course to observe it as if it was in one of his epistles. There is no difference, only that I might forget or change it if it were not written. Here is Paul's phrase-" Stand fast and hold the tradition ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle." Of course what he had taught as truth, they ought to keep. Tradition means what he had taught. But where are the doctrines which Paul taught which are not found in Scripture? They have none to produce_; we shall see this just now. Dr. Milner tells us an old wife's tale about the Apostles agreeing upon a short symbol, a story which everyone knows to have no foundation. The Apostles' creed is the Roman creed with some additions, and the creed of the church of Aquileia in the fifth century, preserved by Ruffinus, the descent into hell being added afterward. But further, a very just and important remark has been made by another as to the way tradition is spoken of by the Fathers on whom Dr. Milner chiefly rests his case. The word is not used as meaning a source of additional doctrines, an unwritten word besides the written, but as a sure proof of the true faith to be received, and way of knowing the right use of Scripture. Tradition for them was a testimony to Scriptural truth of a surer kind, as they alleged, not a communication of additional truths besides the Scripture. They charged heretics with pre. tending to a tradition of this kind. They as often appeal to the Scriptures against everything else as to tradition; but with them tradition is not a source of additional truths, but a surer proof, as they say, of common truths. Now, I admit freely that, supposing the Apostles had not left us the Scriptures, men ought to have followed tradition, that is what the Apostles taught when they had it. The question is, first, would it have secured the preservation of the Apostles' doctrine? The Apostles thought not, and left us the New Testament-that is, really, the Holy Ghost did. But, secondly, now they have left us the Scriptures are we not to use them, and are we not to reject everything contrary to them even if it pretends to be a tradition? We will see now what the Fathers say about it, as Dr. M. quotes them. The early Fathers, those near to the time of the Apostles, appeal to tradition not as an additional source of truth, but a security for truth against heresy, against new doctrines, proving by what everybody held all over the world that such heresy was new. Now, though not an authority, it might be useful as a proof of this when it was universal. But as to its securing the certainty of teaching it cannot, and so God thought, and gave His people a book. History has shown that it does not, for doctrines have changed. Afterward tradition came to be appealed to as an independent source of like authority, because the Scriptures did not contain a multitude of superstitions which came in; and at last the Scriptures taken away, because they condemned well nigh all that was done and taught, as a certain Pet. Sutor (A.D. 1525), a Carthusian monk, innocently confesses, that " the people will be apt to murmur when they see things required, as from the Apostles, which they find not a word of in Scripture." Whence he concludes it was a rash, useless and dangerous thing to translate them. Irenæus, for example, uses tradition as a security for truth, not as revealing other things besides what was in Scripture. The quotation from Tertullian surprises me, because this same Tertullian, after saying the traditions of the different episcopal sees secured the faith, left what called itself the Catholic Church, because its state was so bad. It did not secure his faith. Not only so, but the particular tract Dr. Milner quotes was assuredly written when he had left the Universal Church to become a Montanist, or at any rate, accepted the Montanist rhapsodies as prophecy, for he says in the first chapter, No wonder they would not face martyrdom when they reject the prophecies of the Spirit-that is, of the Paraclete, so called of Montanus. Even here he only insists on rites and ceremonies, and on no doctrine of faith, saying, that if certain ceremonies have been always used they are to be observed, and, it is to be assumed, there was some tradition as their origin,-just showing that it was to justify superstitious practices they began to use tradition because there was no Scripture for them. The other proofs of Dr. Milner are drawn from authors from the end of the fourth to the end of the fifth century after Christ, when every perplexity of doctrine and the grossest relaxation of practice had come into the Church, so that they were glad to get anything to rest their foot upon. Popes had denied the divinity of Christ. The Bishops had killed the poor old Archbishop of Constantinople by blows in one of their councils, and the vices of the clergy were such that they surely did require something not in Scripture to support them. What I have said I will justify when we speak of the marks of the true Church. But it will be well to examine the point of tradition a little closer. We will take Tertullian, because he is the first that speaks largely of it, in the tract Dr. M. refers to. Here are the points for which he refers to tradition as an authority:-

"Therefore let us inquire whether tradition also should be received if it be not a written one. We will deny that it is to be received if no examples of other observances which we defend without any written document on the ground of tradition alone, and then, by the patronage of custom, prejudge the case. Finally, that I may begin with baptism. When we are approaching the water, there, but a little before in the assembly under the hand of the president, we witness that we renounce the devil and his pomps and his angels; then we are immersed three times, answering something more than the Lord determined in the Gospel. Received back [from the water] we taste a mixture of milk and honey, and from that day abstain from our daily washing for a week. The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which was received from the Lord at a time they were eating, and committed to all to celebrate, we take in meetings held before daylight, and not from the hand of others than the president. We make offerings for the dead. We celebrate the anniversaries of martyrs. We count it a wickedness to fast on the Lord's day or to worship on our knees. We enjoy the same immunity from Easter to Pentecost. We are grieved if any even of our own cup or bread drop on the ground. At every progress and advance, at coming up or going out, in clothing, putting on our shoes, washing at tables, when we bring the lights, when we go to bed, when we sit down, whatever we are engaged in, we sign our forehead with the cross. If you ask Scripture for the law of these and other like practices, you will find none. Tradition will be alleged to you to be the source. Custom has confirmed it, and faith observes it."

Now, that none of these observances are found in Scripture I fully admit. But we see what tradition was worth-not kneeling on Sunday, giving a taste of milk and honey to the newly baptized and such like futilities, which, not being in Scripture, they alleged tradition for. Now, it is well to see what the earliest tradition was worth. You have it from Dr. Milner's witness for us; we were to take him as a guide in our inquiry; I have examined what he has alleged. But, then, I have a few remarks to make here. Had these traditions the authority of the Word of God, the alleged unwritten word? The triune immersion in baptism, which some took for a sign of the Trinity, some for the three days of Christ's being in the grave-Jerome of the unity, too-was insisted upon by Tertullian, Basil and Jerome as coming from tradition, Chrysostom refers it to the words of Christ Himself in sending His disciples (Matt. 28) And the so-called Apostolical canons order a Bishop or Presbyter to be deposed who should administer baptism not by three immersions, but only one in the name of Christ. Pope Pelagius condemns it, too, and founds the practice on Christ's words in Matthew. So it appears does Theodoret, who accuses Eunomius of changing baptism in not immersing thrice; so Sozomen. Here, if ever, we have a tradition of the highest character and greatest authority. Alas! it is given up. The Arians used it, and in Spain this alarmed the orthodox, and many gave it up, and others would not, and the whole country was in a practical state of schism. Leander, of the see of Seville, Wrote to Gregory the Great. He answers:-" Concerning the triune immersion in baptism nothing can be answered more truly than what thou hast felt, that in one faith a different custom does no harm to the holy Church; but in being thrice immersed, we mark a sacrament of the three days' burial, as when the infant is taken up the third time out of the water, the resurrection on the third day is expressed. But if anyone thinks that there is an assertion of the exalted Trinity therein, neither as to this is there any hindrance to being plunged only once; since as there is one substance in three Persons it can in no way be reprehensible that an infant should be immersed once or thrice in baptism since in three immersions the trinity of persons, in one, the unity of the divinity is designated; but now as infants are baptized by the heretics with three immersions, I judge that it should not be done among you" (Greg. Lib. 1, Ep. 41, ad Leand.) Still the Pope's advice did not succeed in stopping the schism. The Spanish council of Toledo decided that, though, as Gregory judged, both were perfectly innocent, yet they should only immerse once, and comfort all parties by saying that the plunging is a sign of death; the coming up, of resurrection; the one-immersion, of the unity of the Godhead; the three names, of the Trinity of persons (Con. Toledo iv., can. 5). So this tradition, enforced by deposition from office in the canons, which tradition asserted to be those of the Apostles, as the same tradition did the creed to be theirs, came to an end. And faith observed it no more. How certain an authority it is. You cannot complain of the choice I have made. It is Dr. Milner's own. I suppose Roman Catholics kneel on Sunday, and from Easter to Pentecost too. So that what Tertullian alleges to be tradition observed by faith has no authority at all. I shall refer to what Irenæus says of Scripture just now. I do not quote him as to tradition, because his use of it is to appeal to the universal voice of the Church to confirm his reasonings from the Word against heretics, which is quite another thing from Dr. Milner's use of the word. But a word more as to Tertullian, who was a lawyer and was a great stickler for Church prescription, which is only a principle of Roman civil law, and what Dr. Milner quotes only an advocacy, in the terms of Roman law. One question is, Can the authority of tradition secure us in the faith? The answer is, Tertullian himself who insists on it, received at the time he wrote this, the Montanist rhapsodies, as inspiration and the Comforter, and went amongst them, leaving that which he said alone had authority. The most important of his traditions which was universal was given up, Pope Gregory very wisely saying that, if there was unity of faith, such things were of no consequence. How futile most of his traditions. are, anyone can see. They are notions and practices crept in from a lively imagination, and that is all; but a dangerous thing in the Church of God, because a long observed custom becomes a matter of faith for many.

M. But have we not the Apostles' creed by tradition, and that they composed it before they went away to preach?

N*. The Apostles' creed, as the Church has it now, was composed at different times, and no two Churches hardly had just the same. "The Communion of Saints," for example, was added quite late. "The holy Church" earlier,' the word " Catholic" again later still. The descent into hell was not there at all in the Roman creed called the Apostles'. And it was added very late indeed; it was in the creed of Aquileia, in the fourth century. As to the Apostles making a creed, as Dr. Milner alleges, I am surprised he should quote such a fable, for such it is now, I suppose, universally owned to be. All the creeds are called Apostolic, meaning they contain Apostolic doctrine. What is now called the Apostles' creed was the creed of the Roman Church with one or two articles added. This story of the Apostles composing it does not appear before the fourth century, and then the story went rapidly further, for an author, passing under the name of Augustine, gives us the particular article contributed by each Apostle. But all this is trumpery and contrary to known history, for it is known that many articles were added, as I have said, quite late in the Church's history. Dr. Milner urges, too, that they (the Apostles) profess belief in the Church (Letter 10) not in Scripture. This is an unfortunate observation. The authors of the creed were stating objects of faith, what they did believe, not sources of revelation, or the authority for their believing it. They-do not speak of believing in tradition either, both would have been absurd, because the question was briefly what, they believed, not why, or where they found it. But further, the author quoted by Dr. Milner-he who tells us the Apostles made the creed Ruffinus-charges his readers to remark that they are not called on to believe

the Church (that is, have confidence in it as an authority and source of faith), but only to believe the Church-that is, that there was such a thing. If anyone says that it is just the same with every article that they are all objects of faith whether there be " in" or not, I shall not contest with him. However, Dr. Milner's (Letter 10) authority presses strenuously the remark that we are only to believe the objective fact that there is a Church, but not to believe in it—that is, draws exactly the opposite conclusion to that for which Dr. M. quotes him. He says:-" By this syllable of a preposition (believing the Church, instead of in the Church) the Creator is separated from the creatures, and divine things are separated from human." (Ruffinus in Symb. Apostolorum); and. St. Augustine, and after him the schoolmen, insist on the difference in principle.

But I must return a moment to a remark I made to you. The word tradition is shamefully abused. No one doubts that the disciples ought to receive whatever the Apostles taught by word of mouth. The question is whether we can have it now handed down unwritten outside Scripture. Now the Scripture and the earliest writers used the word simply in the sense of teaching. As in the passage quoted by Dr. Milner " the tradition which ye have received by word or our epistle." That had not been handed down, Paul had taught them by word of mouth; he has taught them by letter; they were to receive both. Of course they were; but they had received both directly from the Apostle; there was no handing down. It means his teaching, and he uses it so elsewhere. Now it is dishonest trifling to use this to prove what is alleged when the word is used in another sense. Tradition means now what is handed down unwritten from one to another, the unwritten word as distinguished from Scripture. Paul says tradition by letter or word. It is not the same thing he speaks of. The duty of receiving what Paul taught by word of mouth has nothing to do with proving that handing down by words of mouth means our having what was not written by them. Ignatius, as quoted by Eusebius, uses tradition as Paul does-that is, as Apostolic teaching.

James. Well, M., that seems quite clear. When Paul speaks of tradition by letter or word he does not use it as you do now, and Dr. Milner ought not to have quoted it. It has nothing to do with the matter.

N*. We say Paul and the rest did teach by word of mouth, but what God meant for the Church in all ages he caused them to commit to writing. Now, first let us see how the Lord speaks and acts in this respect. He

- does speak of tradition, when it was something handed down added to the written word: and thus the Scribes and Pharisees asked Him why His disciples transgressed the tradition of the elders. " But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition... Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." Adding from Esaias, " In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Now we charge the Romanists with this. They worship God in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. They have taken away one of the Ten Commandments, and made two of the last to make out the ten, and added six commandments of the Church (others make eight, dividing one and adding one, to pay tithes). They are to be as binding as God's commandments, besides a hundred other human ordinances.

James. Is that true, M.?

M. The Church has given commandments besides the ten.

James. And left out the second?

M. Deuteronomy proves that it is only a part of the first, and that the last two are distinct, for they are in a different order from Exodus.

N*. But you have left out the second and divided the tenth, and that second is, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, or the likeness of anything that is in heaven or on earth." And you have made graven images and set them up in all your churches, and in your streets and roads, where you can.

James. Well, I had no thought of what their doctrine was. My wife might well say it was not Christianity as God gave it. Why, a child may see that.

N*. The Lord never appeals to tradition, but openly Condemns it, and appeals to Scripture, saying it cannot be broken.

The Apostles never do, but always quote the Scriptures, and not only so, but foreseeing by the prophetic Spirit what would come on the Church, they tell us our security would be the divinely-inspired Scriptures, and Timothy's knowing the person who had taught the doctrine which thus only could have authority, and so of us. And Peter expressly says he would take care they should have the testimony of God, and writes his epistle, clearly showing that thus, and thus only, and not by oral tradition, the truth would remain and be secured to them. Further, the Romanist cannot tell us one truth with any knowledge of whom it came from-cannot authenticate as apostolic a single tradition. Paul does refer to what he had taught by word of mouth without repeating it in writing. "Now ye know what letteth." Now, here the Romanists cannot supply anything by tradition at all. Where tradition, if of any value, would come in they can say nothing at all. Yet they have the Fathers very clear upon this. They have a Church tradition upon this. The Apostle says that when this hindrance was removed the man of sin would come. Now the Fathers taught it was the Roman empire; and prayed for its continuance, persecuting as it was, that the dreadful time of Antichrist might not come. But there they were all wrong. The Roman empire is gone and the man of sin not come, however much the Pope may have his spirit. See the wisdom of Scripture. Now, as an external hindrance the Roman empire may have been what hindered (though the presence of the Church on earth with the Holy Ghost dwelling in it I believe to have been the cause), but if the Apostle had said, in what God was giving for all ages, it was the Roman empire it would have turned out subsequently to have been inexact. And, therefore, the Spirit of God, in what was written, left it in terms the import of which are to be learned by the spiritual mind from the Word. The Fathers may have been right that the external hindrance then was the Roman empire. I can suppose Paul may have even spoken of this as the then hindrance, but by leaning on tradition they went all wrong. The Holy Ghost for all ages only taught the general truth. The tradition has proved false, and the body that trusts to it now cannot supply one word- to say what it meant. Now, I do not own the smallest authority in the Fathers. I own it in nothing but in the Word of God; but, as they have been-quoted, I shall quote them as to the Scripture, to show they argued exactly in an opposite way to which Dr. Milner quotes them for. I recognize no authority of any kind in the Fathers, for the simple reason that they neither give us, nor pretend to give us, any revelation from God. Whether they have given the doctrine of the Apostles correctly is easily ascertained by comparing them with the Apostles' writings, and as a general fact I affirm that they do not, and that on all the most vital subjects. It is all nonsense to talk of their judgment being surer than ours, because the Scriptures are not easy to understand. I answer, the Scriptures are just as easy to understand as the Fathers. If they are to be the rule of faith they are in Latin and Greek, and instead of one volume full of truth and riches, I have masses of folios, with some good things in them here and there, but a vast quantity of confusion, heresy, and trash. If am to take them as witnesses of I what the Apostles taught, it is much simpler to take the Apostles' own writings. However, I shall refer to them, since they are quoted and made a parade of, to show how little ground there is for trusting what is said of them, or, I must add, what they say. Irenæus, whom Dr. Milner quotes, begins the reasonings of the passage thus, Lib. III, chap. 3:-" We have not known the dispositions of our salvation but by those by whom the Gospel came to us, which indeed, they then preached, but afterward by the will of God have delivered to us in writings, which were to be the foundation and column of our faith. Nor is it right to say they preached before they had a perfect knowledge." He then refers to the Gospels as flowing from their teaching. In the second chapter we come to the key to the whole matter. 'The Valentinian heretics against whom he wrote, who held it was a bad God that made the world and gave the Old Testament, finding they could not prove their doctrines by Scripture, pretended there were other doctrines which the Apostles taught and had not written, appealed, that is, as Romanists do-for it is the old heretical story-to the unwritten word known by tradition. " For when," he says, " they are convicted out of the Scriptures, they turn to accusations against the Scriptures themselves, as if they were not right, nor of authority, and because things are variously said there, and because the truth cannot be found out from them by those who are ignorant of tradition, for that was not delivered in writing, but viva voce." Thus, what Dr. Milner insists on is exactly what these horrible heretics insisted on, and Irenæus's language is. The Fathers had no such tradition, but believed in one supreme God. The heretics appealed to unwritten tradition, because the Scriptures were not clear, nor could be understood without tradition, and that there were things taught by tradition besides the Scriptures. Irenæus, then, takes them on their own ground, and says, " Let them take their own ground. How can we have surer tradition than in the Churches founded by Apostles, and especially Rome, where Peter and Paul both were. None of them teach, nor have taught, that there was a bad God." He does not appeal to them for any doctrine not contained in the Word, but to confirm his reasonings, taken from the Scriptures, against the spurious traditions of these heretics; and adds, then, that missionaries, who taught heathens who are utterly barbarous without written documents, taught no such doctrine, and their testimony was to be received. In this way Irenæus uses the common faith of the Church to refute a pretended tradition, saying that what the Apostles taught was written down, and condemning the appeal to an unwritten word for something not in Scripture. Only he shows that tradition, if heretics would have it, rejected them. Remember, then, that Irenæus is arguing against heretics, because they appealed to tradition as revealing doctrines not in Scripture, and interpreting Scripture itself, and resists this doctrine, adding that if you appeal to the universal consent of the Churches they confirm what he alleges from Scripture. It is the Romanists who take the ground which the godly Irenæus denounces as the conduct of the heretics, who insisted there was tradition besides Scripture, and that Scripture could not be rightly used without it. The case, the same in substance, but yet stronger, is the case of Tertullian, who is blindly quoted as the great authority for tradition. He, too, complains of the heretics for affirming that the Apostles taught doctrines besides what is in Scripture, alleging sometimes that they did not know all things, sometimes that they did not teach all things publicly. And he declares that these heretics quote certain passages of Scripture to show that there were secret doctrines which they did not teach to all, founding the doctrine of an unwritten tradition on them. The very same course is pursued by the Roman doctors to prove there is an unwritten tradition besides Scripture. Tertullian declares there was no such thing; but that the Apostles, taught publicly all they had received to teach, first by word of mouth, and then afterward in their epistles; and denying these heretics to be Christians at all, he says they ought to be, according to the Scriptures, rejected after one rebuke (a mistake of his, by the bye, Paul says a first and second), and not after disputation, and that Christians had better not dispute with them. Now, though declamatory and loose, there is a great deal of truth in this. But I will show you from the passage the exactness of what I have said. He speaks as one weak and vexed, but with a great deal of truth, though on some points we shall see his reasoning defective at any time, and wholly useless for the purpose Romanists quote it for. He speaks of the twelve (strange to say he does not notice Paul here) being sent forth and promulgating the same faith, and founding Churches in each city, from which other Churches afterward borrowed in turn the continuation of the faith and seeds of doctrine, and yet, says he, " borrow, and thus are counted apostolic, as the offspring of apostolic Churches. It is necessary that every kind of thing should be estimated according to its origin. Therefore so many and so great [as the] Churches [may be] that first one [founded by] the Apostles, from which all are [derived], is one; so all are the first and apostolic, while all together approve unity..... Here, therefore, we found our prescription. If the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Apostles to preach, others are not to be received as preachers than those Christ instituted; since none know the Father but the Son, and he to whom He has revealed Him, nor does the Son appear to have-revealed Him to others than to the Apostles, whom He sent to preach surely that which He had revealed to them. But what they have preached, that is what Christ revealed to them, and here 1 use prescription (the Roman form of pleading), that it ought not to be otherwise proved but by these Churches which the Apostles themselves founded by preaching to them, as well viva voce (by word of mouth),.as men say, as afterward by epistles.

.. Let us communicate with the Apostolic Churches, because none have a different doctrine; this is the testimony of truth." He then insists largely that all was revealed to the Apostles, and that there could not be any other doctrine added which they had not. Now note here that he insists on the Epistles as containing these same truths that were taught. But suppose follow now Tertullian's advice, and that I go to the Churches which the Apostles founded. They have pretty nearly disappeared. I go to Jerusalem, and I find. such fighting for the Holy Sepulcher between Armenians, Greeks, and Romanists of different ways of thinking, that the Turks are obliged to have troops and men with whips to keep order. The Churches founded by Apostles have almost disappeared by the judgment of God, they were become so corrupt. Rome was not founded by Apostles. That is certain, for Paul writes a letter to them, and to a Church there, before any Apostle had been there, and when he went there he was a prisoner. In fine, if I go to the places which the Apostles did found, as far as they subsist,. They reject the Romish Church altogether, and Rome is striving to gain proselytes from them. They are Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites. In result these early Fathers did not use tradition as giving additional truths, but as the common consent of the Churches, to show that their statements from Scripture were sound and true, and that none had ever held what the heretics advanced. That the heretics' opinions began since the Apostles, and therefore could not be true, because the Apostles had been guided into all truth. Tertullian says, if the heretics were in the Apostles' time, they are condemned, being only now somewhat more refined in form; or they were not in the Apostles' time, and their later origin condemns them.' Now that is exactly what is the truth as to the doctrines of Romanism. Peter Lombard, in the twelfth century, was the first who taught there were just seven sacraments, and Bellarmine confesses that Christ taught nothing directly as to some, and Cardinal Bessarion admits there were originally only two, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. And we can give the date or gradual growth of the doctrines in which we differ from them. On the other side, the practical force of Tertullian's argument is wholly gone. There he reasons to prove that no Churches had these new doctrines of the heretics, so that they were proved to be new. " Go through," he says, " the Apostolic Churches, where as yet the sees of the Apostles preside in their places, where their own authentic letters are read, sounding out the voice, and representing the face of each one. Is Achaia nearest to you?" You have Corinth. I go to Corinth now; it condemns Rome. " If you are not far from Macedonia thou hast Philippi, thou hast Thessalonica." I cannot go to Philippi, all the place has disappeared. I go to Thessalonica; they condemn Rome again. " If not, thou canst go into Asia; thou hast Ephesus. But if thou art adjacent to Italy, Rome, whose authority is to be had for us." (He lived in Africa over against Italy.) He declares they would find none of the new doctrines. Now remark here, first, that his appeal to this sure tradition was finding the Scriptures, the authentic letters, still extant, which proved what the doctrine of the Apostles was; and, secondly, if I go to these Churches now, those which remain (except Rome itself) condemn Rome, and the rest can furnish no evidence at all, they are gone. What does remain of Apostolic Churches outside herself universally condemns her.

James. I do not see, M., what I or anyone can gain by what is here said of tradition, nor what your doctors can gain from it but confusion. He appeals for the doctrine which is in Scripture to Corinth and Ephesus and others, as witnesses that they never held such a doctrine as these heretics. But though that may have served as a testimony, as far as it went then, yet the facts prove how unsteady a foundation it was for the truth, for of these places, some of them do not exist at all, and if I were to go to the others they do not agree with Rome. I have nothing hardly left of the means referred to to prove Scripture right, and what is left, if it be worth anything, proves Rome wrong. This is not much help to your cause. The Churches mentioned in Scripture I find are against you where they still exist. Not that I believe any of them as authority, but they upset your argument from tradition entirely. You must find something better than this to build on. If I followed the direction Dr. Milner I see quotes-which I should be sorry to do, because God has left us the Scriptures, but if I did-I must reject him, and Rome with him, because, in following the ordinances of tradition in the Apostolic Churches, I find that they are separated from Rome, and condemn it.

N*. You are perfectly right, James; and there is a plain proof in Dr. Milner himself that he knew this very well, saw it plainly enough, because in quoting Tertullian he has left all this part of the passage out. Tertullian says, " Go through the Apostolic Churches. Ts Achaia next to thee, thou hast Corinth. If thou art not far from Macedonia thou hast Philippi, thou hast the Thessalonians; if not thou canst go into Asia, thou hast Ephesus; but if thou art near Italy, Rome," &c. Now all the former part Dr. Milner carefully leaves out, and begins with " if you live near Italy." He saw plainly enough that all his fine security by tradition would fall to the ground, overthrown by the passage if he had honestly quoted it, because, as I have said, either the witnesses which afforded the security, the Apostolic Churches, were gone, had ceased to exist, or they were opposed to Rome. I regret to say half one's work with the advocates of Romanism is to detect deceit of this kind.

James. Well, but, M., what do you say to this. This is not honest. Had he quoted all the passage it would have upset all he was pleading for.

M. Well, I never read Tertullian, of course. I should take it as Dr. Milner gave it. I supposed it was fair, and never meant to deceive you..

James. I am sure you did not. But you must see we cannot take all as Dr. Milner gives it. It is something to see that we cannot trust his reasonings. That is not the spirit of Christ any way, and that helps one to see clear.

N*. We have gained three points. The heretics first contended for some doctrines delivered by tradition, and not contained in Scripture. The Fathers resisted this. Next, when tradition was first spoken of by the early Fathers, they use it as a testimony of the Churches confirming the doctrines taught from Scripture, not as containing additional doctrines; thirdly, that the basis laid by Tertullian, on whom they so much rely, fails altogether as a secure proof, and what it does testify of condemns Rome. I add, that they used it so far with a good intention that their object was to show what Christ and His Apostles had originally taught, and that they had taught everything openly to all, in order to reject novel doctrines introduced subsequently. Their insisting on having what was at the beginning, what Tertullian, for example, asserts, " That that which was from the beginning is true," is perfectly just. This is 'what we insist on. And we condemn the Romanists because all their peculiar doctrines are novelties, the dates or gradual introduction of them being historically demonstrable. Thus purgatory was hinted at in the fifth century, said to be useful for very small sins in the sixth, and then only gradually grew up. Transubstantiation was never decreed definitively till the thirteenth, and the contrary was taught by the most famous doctors previously. The saints were prayed for, as we have seen, not to, for centuries, so that they had to alter the Roman liturgy to suit the change. So the so-called sacrifice of the mass can be traced from the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (whence the word Eucharist), the presenting offerings before the consecration (whence the word Offertory)-both of which were called the un-bloody offering or sacrifice-to the applying it to the elements after consecration; and, lastly, but not till very late, to its being the real sacrifice of Christ, efficacious for the sins of quick and dead, and the liturgy was changed accordingly. I am not now examining the truth or falsehood of these doctrines, but their novelty. Romanists are now in the position of the heretics of old, alleging tradition for new doctrines which are not found in Scripture. We, on the contrary, rest solely on the Word of God, the Scriptures, as authority, for that is certainly what was at the beginning, and on the other hand we can appeal to history, and prove the introduction of the particular doctrines they insist on as novelties among Christians.

But Dr. Milner cites other Fathers, and it will be useful in many respects to refer to them. The fact is, they argued as it suited them at the moment. When heretics pressed Scripture, they flew to tradition, not at first as containing distinct truth, but as a witness of the truth of what, they alleged, was Scriptural-a use we have seen to be impossible now, because the Churches they appealed to, the Apostolic Churches, have disappeared, or are hostile to Rome. But, besides, these citations will give us the worth of the Fathers' reasonings, and how they contradict, not each other merely, but themselves. Dr. Milner, passes by, he tells us, Clement of Alexandria; he was right in doing so for his cause. Clement resists the Gnostics, or men of knowledge, who infested the Church, saying that ordinary Christians had elements, but that the secret full doctrine of Christianity was in their blasphemies. Tertullian met this by showing that the Apostles had taught all publicly (Test., De Prmscriptione 22 and following). Clement took another course. He says, that Christ spoke in parables in order not to be understood by ordinary Christians, but that there were Christian Gnostics, who by temperance,* a human thing, and desiring and laborious, and, prudence, a divine thing, arrived at Gnosis, and thus had got higher truths and intelligence to understand what was concealed from vulgar eyes. This was to be received according to the ecclesiastical rule, and the ecclesiastical rule is the consent and harmony both of the law and the prophets with the covenant delivered during the Lord's presence (Clem. Alex., Potter 2. 802, 3; Strom. 6.). His principle is bad, but his appeal is to the Scriptures. Nor is Clement after all very famous for orthodoxy. He was saturated with Alexandrian Platonism, and was thoroughly sound neither on the divinity nor on the humanity of the Lord. I do not make a heretic of him, but to say the least, he uses very awkward language, so that the famous Romanist doctor, Petau, charges him plainly with not speaking in an orthodox way.

Dr. Milner passes over Cyprian, too, quite naturally. He strenuously resisted all the pretensions of Rome to the day he was martyred. But not only so. Stephen of Rome, not being able to prove his point against him on a subject of practice and discipline, appealed to tradition on the usage of the Church. " Let nothing," says Stephen, "be innovated on what has been handed down " (tradition). " Whence," replies Cyprian, "is that tradition. Does it descend from the authority of the Lord and the Gospels, and come from the commandments and Epistles of the Apostles? For God bears witness that those things are to be done which are written, and speaks to Joshua the son of Nun, saying, The book of this law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate in it day and night, that thou mayest observe to do all things that are written therein.' What obstinacy is that [in the Pope]; what presumption to prefer human tradition to a divine disposition, and not to take notice that God is indignant and angry as often as human tradition sets aside and passes by divine precepts, as He cries out and says by Esaias the prophet, this people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' (Ep. 74. 80, Oxford). He tells us that if a canal does not give us the water as purely and freely as it used, we go up to the source; we see if the water has failed, or the canal is leaky, or stopped-so we must return to the original of the law and the Gospel, and the apostolic teaching, and let the principle of our acting spring from that whence its order and origin spring."

James. No wonder he passes by Cyprian. He pleads here just for what we do in insisting on the Scriptures against the Pope.

N. We may turn to Origen. Dr. Milner does not say where the passage he quotes is, but Origen speaks distinctly in the beginning of his Principia of tradition as all these early Fathers do.. That is when the heretics brought in tradition besides Scripture, they condemn it;, and when they pervert Scripture, they say it is to be understood according to the common faith of the Church, and novelties, whose beginning could be shown, were not to be received. However, Origen himself was driven away by his bishop for every wild novelty imaginable. He allows no knowledge out of Scripture. Speaking of the peace offerings, he says, " These two days are the two testaments in which we may search out and discuss everything relating to God, and from thence receive, all knowledge of things. But if anything remains which is not decided by divine Scripture, no other third writing ought to be received as an authority for any knowledge (because this is called the third day), but what remains let us give to the fire, that is, leave to God, for in the present life it has not pleased God that we should know all things." (Hom. 5. on Levit. (213) 2.) Thus, while he referred to the common consent of the Churches against the novelties of heretics (those who taught there were two Gods), he allows no authoritative source of knowledge but the two testaments. This is just what we have seen with Tertullian, from whom I add a sentence here: " But that all things were made from subsisting materials I have not yet read. Let Hermogene's workshop show that it is written. If it is not written, let him fear the woe destined to those who add or take away." (Tert. Adv. Her. 22). Bellarmine does not venture to quote Origen. Dr. Milner quotes Basil. The passage he quotes has no reference to any doctrine, if indeed it be genuine, which others than Protestants have doubted. Some objected to saying in a doxology "the Father and the Son with the Holy Ghost," and said Scripture always said `in the Spirit, not with.' He says, " Surely this one expression, used with no premeditation or purpose, may be allowed, so long in use as it has been"-and then refers to practices in the Church which rested solely on tradition, the sense of which most did not understand, just the same as Tertullian refers to praying towards the East (how few, he says, know it refers to Paradise), signing with the cross, praying standing on Sunday, and from Easter to Pentecost, anointing with oil, immersing three times in baptism, and so on. Now, that superstitions were creeping in, and more than that, when Basil wrote, nearly 400 years after Christ, when, indeed, corruption and false doctrine had made havoc of the Church, is quite true. Men used to live in sin, and wait till they were dying to be baptized in order to get off quite clear. I do not mean that all did, but adduce the fact to show the corruption that had come in. It was nearly at the same epoch that the whole of Christendom, save confessing martyrs, had denied the divinity of the Lord. We have seen that Basil was not speaking of doctrine when he referred to traditions, but to mere rites or liturgical forms, "one expression."' But when he speaks of doctrine, here are his words, "Believe the things that are written; the things that are not written do not seek." (Hom. xxix.) (Adversus Calum. Bened. Ed. 2. 611 E.) "It is a manifest falling away from faith, and convicts of arrogance, to annul anything of the things that are written, or to introduce anything of the things that are not written " (2. 224 D.) Poor Basil himself too became suspected of heresy; He never would say the -Holy Ghost was God. The excuse was that if he had he would have been driven from his see, and the heretics would have had all his flock in their power; so he avoided the word, but said what was equivalent. So he defends himself and says, " if a Jew owned Jesus to be the anointed, but would not say Christ, ought he 'not to be received, as it is the same thing." Such is the security Fathers afford; but we will return to this state of things.

" Every word or matter ought to be accredited by the testimony of inspired Scripture (Basil Moralia Reg. 26, p. 254). Nor ought anyone to dare to annul or add anything. For if everything which is not of faith is sin, as the Apostle says, and faith by hearing, and hearing by the word of God: everything outside inspired Scripture not being of faith is sin " (79: 22, 317). Let me add at once that what Dr. Milner quotes from. Augustine, and Vincent of Lerins confirms all I have said. Neither speak of doctrines learned from tradition, but both take the universal faith of the Church to guide in the interpretation of Scripture. Epiphanies applies also the authority of tradition only to practice; namely, that unmarried persons who dedicated themselves to God sinned if they married afterward, quoting what Paul says of the younger widows as analogous; but says, if there is no Scripture, it ought to be accepted as founded on tradition. He is reasoning against those who forbade to marry, and says the Church approved marriage, but admired people not marrying, and then refers to tradition as helpful in understanding Scripture. Chrysostom alone speaks to the point of all Dr. Milner has quoted. He has given the whole sentence. It is all he has on verse 15 of 2 Thess. 2. But it is a very unfortunate case, because the Fathers, as we have seen, had a traditional interpretation of this chapter; namely, that what let (or hindered) was the Roman Empire; and, though persecuted, prayed it might subsist, because when removed Antichrist would come. It was removed, and Antichrist did not come, unless the Pope be Antichrist, and if you ask a Romanist what tradition was given which is not in the passages, or what is the tradition by word of which the Apostle speaks, they cannot tell you a word about it. That is, the passage shows that tradition is wholly incompetent to preserve an unwritten Apostolic teaching. Here is one alluded to: who can tell me what it is? I see the wisdom of God in it, I think clearly, in the Scripture not saying what it was. Because, what was then the hindrance is not the present one; but at any rate your tradition is dumb and can tell us nothing. When religion became a religion of ordinances; not of truth, the traditions which were in vogue for them became the groundwork of all the Christian system, and the Bible disappeared. But little as I trust the Fathers for any doctrine, they speak plainly enough as to Scripture, and Chrysostom urges with all persevering eloquence and zeal everybody's reading them, saying they were written by poor uneducated men on purpose that they might be plain for such. And that laymen occupied in the world had more need to read them than monks or clergy.

I add a few passages as to the exclusive authority of Scripture. Athanasius against the heathen says, " For the holy and inspired Scriptures are sufficient for the promulgation of all truth" (Oratio contra Gentes, Ben. 1.). So Ambrose, "How can we adopt these things which we do not find in the Holy Scriptures?" So Gregory of Nyssa, quoted by Euthymius, As that is not supported by Scripture, we reject it as false." So Jerome, " As those things which are written we do not deny, so those which are not written we refuse" (Contr. Helvid. 19, 2. 226, Veron. Ed.). So Augustine, " In those things which are specially laid down in Scripture, all those things are found which contain faith and the morals of life" (De Doctr. Chris. 2. 9). And again, " I owe my consent without any refusal to the canonical Scriptures alone " (De Nat. et Grat.). And similar quotations might be multiplied. So even as to councils, " Neither ought I to object the council of Nice to you, nor you that of Ariminium (an Arian council of some 800 bishops) to me; by the authority of Scripture let us weigh matter with matter, cause with cause, reason with reason " (Contr. Maxim 3. 14). So in contrast with the doctors of the Church (i.e., the Fathers), "For we should not consent to Catholic bishops if they by chance are deceived, and have opinions contrary to the canonical Scriptures of God " (De Unit. Eccl. 11 Ben. 9. 355). And so in his Epistles and other writings he says, over and over again, he has liberty to differ from them, and is bound only by the Scriptures. Now, either I am to receive these passages as right, and then, if the Fathers are consistent, consider this to be their doctrine; or if you can quote passages from them contradictory of these, then you make their authority to be simply and totally void. If you ask me what I think, I think they used, like other men, the best grounds they thought they could find, and when the heretics or the Pope pleaded tradition, said that all must be proved by Scripture. When they were, as Tertullian, perplexed by their subtle quotations of Scripture, instead of doing as the Lord did when Satan quoted it, quoting another passage, which forbad what Satan used it for, they turned to tradition, but not to learn doctrines not in Scripture, but to prove that of the heretics to be new. As a mere argument as to fact, it might prove it so far; but if a doctrine be in Scripture, clearly it is not new but from the beginning, and it is able to make the man of God perfect. What Dr. Milner has said of tradition is at any rate entirely unfounded. What is of more importance than all, the blessed Lord has condemned it as the false foundation of His enemies, and that men worshipped God in vain who followed it.

And what do you make of the Sabbath, and the change from the seventh day to the first? Is not that a proof that you must follow tradition?

N*. Certainly not. If the blessed privilege of the Lord's day depended on tradition, I for one would hold it as of no force whatever. I might bear with one who observed it, because Paul tells us to do that, "one man regardeth one day above another, another man every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." But it does not rest on tradition. The change from the seventh day to the first is connected with the essence of Christianity and the person of the Lord Jesus. The Sabbath was the sign and seal of the Old Covenant, the witness that God's people had a part in the rest of God, which in itself is the very essence of our everlasting blessing. But it was then given, as all was, in connection with an earthly system, and was a sign of the rest of the old creation, as it indeed was originally so instituted in Paradise. But the rejection of the Lord when He came into that is the proof that man cannot have rest in the old creation, that he is -a sinner and needs redemption out of that state. The blessed Lord, become a man, was not for that less the Lord, and came to accomplish this redemption, and as Son of Man was above all these things-was Lord of the Sabbath as of everything else. It had been given for man in grace and goodness, though it took the form of law, as all did among the Jews. But we as redeemed have to do with the new creation. All that system has found its end in the death of Christ. Not the rest of God, but the hope of rest in the old creation. So Christ lay in the grave that Sabbath, but now He is risen, risen the first day of the week, and the first fruits of them that slept. We begin our Christian life as the first fruits of God's creatures. We begin as dead and risen, in Christ. We do not, therefore, celebrate the rest of the old creation-we were utterly lost as belonging to that; but the resurrection of our blessed Lord, as the foundation and beginning of the new, when redemption is accomplished. Hence, after His resurrection He meets His disciples that first day of the week when they were assembled, and the first, or Lord's day following the same thing, and thenceforth it is carefully distinguished in Scripture. We learn the disciples came together the first day of the week to break 'bread. They were to set apart, in grace, for the poor on the first day of the Week. And in the Revelation it is called the Lord's Day, just as the Supper is called the Lord's Supper. Hence, we own with joy the Lord's Day, as Scripture teaches us; the first day of the week, not, the seventh, in which the Lord's body lay in the grave, the witness that the old creation was judged, condemned, and passed away-that there was no rest in it but to die. No rest for the old man; but the restlessness of sin and the misery of its fruits. No rest in it for the new man, not for Christ, because all was polluted and alienated from God. And He teaches us that He came to work in grace and die in it, and begin all anew, of which His resurrection, and the Lord's Day as a sign of it, is witness.

M. I do not understand a word you are saying. I see it says Christ was Lord of the Sabbath, and that the first day was set apart, and that Scripture speaks of the 'Lord's Day. But what you are saying about it is too high for me.

N*. Well, M., take the fact at any rate that you admit that Christ was Lord of the Sabbath, that His authority was above it, and that after His resurrection the first day is the day distinguished in Scripture, not the seventh. That proves our point now, that we do not receive it from tradition but from Scripture.

James. Well, M., I am no wiser than you, yet I do understand it. But I see plainly it is not from any wisdom in me, but that I know that in the flesh and under the law I am lost, and that Christ has died and is risen again, and if any man be in Him he is a new creature; old things are passed away, all things are become new, and Christ's resurrection is the beginning of this hope, and that is where our rest is founded, and not in the old creation, so we have that and the first day of the week as the witness of blessing and that God's rest belongs to us, not a sign of the rest of the first creation, when God rested on the seventh day, when He had made all things good, for sin has- spoiled that, and the Apostle says, Heb. 4, that man never entered into that. And I am sure we know he did not. Toil, and sin, and death are not rest. At any rate, as you say, we have it taught in Scripture that the first day of the week, 'not the seventh, is the one marked out " the Lord's Day,".and that suffices. The Jews had the seventh day.

N*. Well, I turn to washing the feet, which is the other point Dr. Milner speaks of. It is a foolish point because the Lord expressly declares that His meaning in it they did not then understand, that is, it had a spiritual signification which they would afterward understand. In a word, that He did not mean the literal act, but that it was merely the sign of what required spiritual understanding. It is absurd to suppose that such a mere outward act gives a part with Christ. And what the sign of water means is told us, " Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." And again to " sanctify and cleanse it [the Church] by the washing of water by the word."

The next proof of tradition Dr. Milner gives is a singularly unhappy one for Romanist doctrines. " The whole sacred history," he says, " was preserved by the Patriarchs in succession, froth Adam down to Moses, during the space of 2,400 years by means of tradition." Now..the Flood came in this period, because men had grown so wicked and cast off God that Noah alone remained to be preserved. And after the Flood all the world was fallen into idolatry, so that God called Abraham out of it to begin afresh and have a nation for Himself in which He should keep the knowledge of the true God alive by a written law, because men so entirely lost the knowledge of Him when they had not one. Here is Paul's account of this time, " Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God gave them up to uncleanness.... And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind," etc: This is a poor but true history of the time when man was left to tradition. The difference of Romanism now is this-there is a written word and they have taken it away and put reproach upon it, and as the heathen corrupted the doctrine of one God by idolatry and many false gods, so the Romanist, when God had sent His Son to bring men back, have corrupted the doctrine of one Divine Mediator by making many human and false ones.

James. I do not see, M., how Dr. Milner could refer to that time. It upsets all he seeks to prove. Why, it shows that when man had only tradition he was lost in sin and idolatry altogether, so that only one was saved from the Flood with his family, and Abraham had to be called out miraculously because all had gone into idolatry. And it is true you have gone away from the one Mediator to have many false ones that we do not want and which are no use.

N*. Well, we will go on with Dr. Milner. He quotes Pope Stephen as referring to tradition. But this is just the tradition on which St. Cyprian opposed-him, and all the African Churches and Firmilian and those of Asia Minor opposed him, and said his tradition was false. It is just an additional proof of the uncertainty of tradition, and it is the very case which makes Augustine say that if the doctors of the Church go wrong he is not bound by them. Dr. Milner's statement as to the agreement of the Greek, Nestorian, Eutychian, and other bodies in the East agreeing with Romanists (save on the Pope's supremacy, a pretty important point when infallibility is in question) -is simply untrue. They are corrupt- enough, God knows; but they reject a quantity of Romanist doctrine and discipline too. As, to name no others, purgatory is wholly rejected in the Greek Church, and the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son. And as to Eutychians, they hold that Christ had not really two distinct natures, but that the Godhead was as the soul of Christ; the Nestorians, on the other hand, divided the person. Though at first it was merely a very just refusal to call Mary the Mother of God,* Nestorius wished to say the Mother of Him who is God. However, intrigues had the upper hand. As to Dr. Milner's saying that it was easier to change the Scriptures, so that they would be uncertain as a rule, nobody read them, a few monks copied them in the monasteries, but save that, nobody could read, and the clergy taught what they liked. There was no object-in changing Scripture; besides, I doubt not God watched over it. As to saying that religious novelties would have produced violent opposition, and of course tumults, it is too bad and dishonest. Why, half the time of the Emperors was spent in keeping the peace, or trying to do so, for they never succeeded. The majority of bishops in Africa seceded, and some of their partizans got the name of circumcelliones, or vagabonds, for going about using violence. And at last they were put down by the Emperor by force. One Council gathered to settle these doctrinal disputes, killed an old archbishop because he did not agree with them. First, the Orthodox got the Arians banished, and then the Arians got the Orthodox. On the subject of images, Council voted against Council, and then it came in the East to wars, in which a strong party held their ground a hundred years against the Emperors. Why, the whole history of the Church is the history of violence and banishment, and bloodshed, and tumult, on account of doctrinal and Church disputes. The streets of Alexandria and Rome have streamed with blood through them, and the civil authority had to put it down. As to transubstantiation and invocation of saints, we shall come to them in their place. History will show whether Dr. Milner has been rash in trusting to the presumed ignorance of his readers in referring to them. I have now gone through the question of tradition and what Dr. Milner has to say on it. I do not think we have found either certainty or the Church by it yet. I still ask, Since you appeal to the. Church and authority, where is it? The Scripture does act on my conscience and heart, and I bow to it as the Word of God, as that Word which pierces to the dividing asunder the joints and marrow and soul and spirit; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and I bow as finding myself, when I read it, before Him in whose sight all things are naked and open. Not so when you speak to me of the Church and what you hold up to me as such. As an outward authority in unity where is it to be found? Dr. Milner suppresses that part of the passage in Tertullian, it is true, but what he referred to us his great authority sent me to the East. These were confessedly the most ancient Churches, but they are opposed to Rome. If I am in England and Northern Europe or North America, the immense majority of professing Christians owning the Lord, and even active in propagating Christianity, denounce Rome as the corruptest body in existence. Where is this one Church which has authority? You tell me Rome is one. One with what? In itself. So are the Greeks. Yet Rome is not more one, as we have seen, than Protestants; not on Election; not on the Authority of the Pope; and not, till a year or two ago, on the Immaculate Conception; but especially not able to tell me where infallibility really resides.

James. My trust is in Scripture as the Word of God. I know it is in my soul, and you own it is the Word of

God, and it tells me to trust it, and that I ought to have the witness in myself, and I have; but I must say, Bill,

though I know nothing of it, of course, myself, what Dr. Milner has insisted on all comes to nothing, and worse than nothing when it is examined. Nor have you any doctrine which you can refer to tradition when Scripture says nothing. What I know of your doctrines, as purgatory, and the Popes being successors of Peter, and worshipping the saints is only a corruption of what is in Scripture, or quite condemned by it. And then what you appeal to goes against you. Why did Dr. Milner leave out these other Churches from the passage he quoted? They just knock up his argument.

M. Well, it is no good my arguing, or any of us. I had better bring Father O., and he will make it plain for you.

N*. By all means. We are just coming to a point of which Milner says nothing, and naturally would not-the difficulties of his own case. And you could not tell whether I was stating it correctly or not, and I suppose Mr. O. can; at any rate I will give the proofs. Hitherto we have only examined what Dr. Milner says, so that we wanted no one. We will meet, then, again, to see if we can find the Church, where it is, and where the infallibility is which is to guide us. I will now say Good day. Good evening to you both. May the Lord guide us into all truth.

James. Good evening, Sir.

Noah, a Type of Christ

" CHOSEN in Christ before the foundation of the world," tells us of God's thought about the work of His Son, ages before the cross was borne by Simon the Cyrenian, on which the Son of Man was lifted up.

As time went on, and events took place on the earth when peopled by Adam's race, we have clear evidence that the sacrifice of His Son, though future in fact, was ever present to God's eye. For, living as we do after the cross and the descent of the Holy Ghost, who guides into all the truth, distinct shadows of Him that was to come, and the work He was to accomplish, are found to have been cast at different times across the page of man's brief history. Before the flood and after, during the patriarchal era, in the history of Israel in the wilderness and in the land, we have frequent illustrations of this in the lives of several of God's saints. There are what may be called historic parallels as well as types. We may trace a parallel in certain portions of the life of a child of God between him and the Lord Jesus as He appeared on earth; and we may find this same servant of God filling a position which is a figure of that afterward occupied by Him who was to come. But in all typical personages of the Old Testament who shadowed forth the Lord, we have two sides as it were of a picture presented to us which must never be confounded. We see the man as he is a child of Adam needing a Savior, and we see him portraying some character which the Savior was afterward to fill. Thus, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, &c., were types of the Lord as they occupied positions similar to any He has, or will yet be found in. Joseph was a type when rejected by his brethren he became their preserver in the land of Egypt; but he was not a type of Christ when regarded as the prime minister of the Egyptian monarch.a Moses and Aaron were types of the Lord when, as king and priest, they came out of the Sanctuary and blessed the people on the eighth day of Aaron's consecration; but they sustained no typical character when they mutually shared in the efficacy of the blood shed on the great day of atonement. So with others, and with Noah, to whom the reader's attention is now to be directed. Noah was a type of the Lord, as is sought to be pointed out, before he entered the ark, as well as after he came out of it; but he was not a type of Him when looked at as inside it. Before he entered, as after, he filled positions which correspond to. those the Lord has consented to be in: when safe inside. the ark, with the door securely closed by the Lord, we see him as a Unless it were as Head of the Gentiles.-ED. a man indebted to God's salvation for deliverance from God's wrath.

Between the history of Noah and that of the Lord we may likewise trace parallels. With the first mention of Noah in the genealogy of Adam's descendants we have something peculiar-prophecy burst forth afresh at his birth. Enoch had years before prophesied of the Lord coming in judgment with ten thousand of His saints; but no fresh prophecy is recorded till Lamech predicted a new era for man on earth, as he called his son's name Noah (i.e., rest). " This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed" (Gen. 5:29). The sterile earth would be fruitful. The very ground would share in the blessings to be expected in connection with this new-born babe. Man and earth were both interested in the son of Lamech. Centuries passed away before another was born in whom both man and earth had a special and common interest. At His birth as at Noah's, prophecy, silent for ages, again was heard. Lamech's prophecy was fulfilled; but the blessings to earth from the Lord's birth have yet to be displayed. Noah was a husbandman, and under him, in the then new world, men enjoyed the fruits of. the trees, which after Adam's sin had been withdrawn from him and his descendants. In Eden he had the herb bearing seed for meat, and every tree in the which was the fruit of a tree yielding seed. After the fall he was to eat the herb of the field, and the ground, then cursed, was to yield thorns and thistles. After the flood there was a lightening of the curse, and the earth does yield in some degree her increase. But its fullness is yet withheld, though not forever. It will surely be one day given to man, as set forth in the glowing descriptions of the future in the prophecy of Isaiah. To Adam it yielded thorns and thistles; to men of another epoch it will yield useful produce. " Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree" (Is. 55. 13). Where cultivation has been scanty and vegetable life has not flourished, the face of nature will be changed, and barrenness give way to _luxuriant growth; for "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with' joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon "(Isai. 35. 1, 2). Under Noah there was partial relief; under the Second Man there will be full deliverance. In this creation is directly interested as well as man. It groans and travails in pain, made subject to vanity not willingly; but the incubus will be lifted up, the curse removed, and earth with man rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Lamech looked forward to the future under Noah; we, in this respect similarly situated, look forward to the future under the Lord. But judgment came ere Lamech's prophecy was fulfilled, and judgment must come before Isaiah's predictions can be made good.

About 480 years rolled by before anything fresh is told us of the patriarch. All had been going on on the earth as usual, except that the wickedness of man, we may well believe, had increased, and even the sons of God had been seduced into alliances with the daughters of men, taking wives of all that they chose. Left to themselves, unfettered by any law, unrestrained by a power which enforced obedience whether man liked it or not, they acted as they chose. Such is the inspired record of the acts of the sons of God of the antediluvian world. Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and took them all away, is the Lord's description of that age, manifesting its unconcern and unbelief of its impending doom, little thinking in the midst of their giddy round of pleasure that One was weighing them in the balance, and pronouncing them as He did the King of Babylon at a later day, " weighed and found wanting." " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." How extensive and yet how minute was this scrutiny. It took in the life, character, and thoughts of man. The general habit of man as man, and the particular characteristics of individuals of the race passed under the all-seeing eye of God; the thought concealed, perhaps, from the bosom-friend,

was read accurately by Him, and every imagination (or formation) of the thoughts of man's heart was found to be only evil continually. It was one vast scene of moral ruin, degradation, and lawlessness. Once, when He surveyed man as He had formed him, His eye rested with delight on all that He saw, and He pronounced it very good. Now, surveying man as he had degraded himself, a fallen being getting deeper and deeper into the mire, " He repented that he had made him on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." " The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" tells a further tale, and attests the polluting power of sin. Man was a corrupt and a corrupting being. " God looked on the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Contact with man was defilement; his very touch was pollution. Is there a germ of goodness in man? It had surely time as well as occasion to show itself. Upwards of 500 years had passed between Enoch's translation, and consequently, since his prophecy of judgment and God's inspection of man on the earth, and yet there was no improvement manifested. The fear of judgment had not wrought a change him; the mysterious disappearance of Enoch had not permanently affected him. What he had been in Enoch's day, that he was in Noah's. And what we read of is not some extraordinary display of Satanic power sweeping everything before it, though surely Satan was actively at work (the great display of his power is reserved for a yet future epoch); but it was man left, as we might say, to himself, showing the natural bent of his corrupt heart. "All flesh had corrupted his way on the earth." Corruption and lawlessness characterized the period.

In the midst of this picture of wide-spread and deeply rooted ungodliness, one man, and one man only, is brought before us with whom God had communion: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord;" "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God"; just the opposite to those around in. his walk, and in the desires of his soul. To him God communicates His mind and announces the coming judgment; yet not all His mind, for He did not tell him at first when that judgment would come. Man had corrupted his way on the earth, and the earth was corrupt; so man, every living thing on the earth, and the earth itself must be destroyed. " The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will destroy them with the earth were the words which told Noah of God's determination to put an end to that for which there was no remedy. Noah thus learned the end would come; but knew not, that we read of, what God had said to Himself ( 6. 3). This is God's manner of acting. There are times and seasons which the Father hath put in his own power (Acts 1). The day or the hour of the coming and announced judgment" knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father " (Mark 13, 32). So with Noah. He warned him of the coming destruction, told him what to do to escape it, but did not communicate to him the exact time of its approach till the ark was ready, and the last week of the old world was commencing. " They knew not until the flood came." During that day of long suffering, a period of 120 years, Noah was a preacher of righteousness, with what success the number saved in the ark testifies-seven souls beside himself preserved for the new world. Need we wonder at this small result? Another one could say, " I have preached righteousness in the great congregation, lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation, I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation ' (Psa. 40:9,10). And after all He had to turn and say,, as regards Israel, " I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain" (Isa. 49:4). Little wonder is it then that the first preacher of righteousness should be accompanied into the ark by his own immediate family only. Where were his brethren and sisters? Had he to feel, like One greater than himself, that even his brethren refused to give credence to his message? "Ye would not" was the Lord's charge against Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37), and her present desolation is the consequence. His testimony was rejected. So Noah entered the ark in the midst of a scene of life and gaiety, and passed out, as it were of the sphere of his labors before his predictions were verified, shut in by the Lord, separated from all he had preached to, with his family only around him, a rejected messenger of the Lord Jehovah.

But not only does the history of our patriarch furnish parallels between his own and the Lord's history while on earth; he is also a type of the Lord both before and after the flood: before the flood a type of Him as a Savior, after it of Him as a ruler, thus preserving the historical order.

All flesh had corrupted its way on the earth, so all flesh deserved to die. " I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them " (Gen. 6:7). Thus man as a race was under sentence of death, and justly so. How could the race be preserved alive? All hopes hung, humanly speaking, on one man, Noah. Because of him the race was not exterminated. " Everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee." On how slender a thread all then hung. Had lie failed where would man have been? Had he been found like the rest what would his family have done? The human race was preserved through him, and the living creatures of earth and air were saved from utter destruction likewise. Creation found itself interested in this one. Judgment must take it course, for corruption pervaded all flesh and the earth; but God's handiworks in creation could righteously be rescued from complete extermination. To outward eyes, probably, there was little to interest a stranger in this man. His conduct condemned the practices of those around him; his words must have disturbed and broken in on the composure of many a soul desiring only to go on unchecked and unreproved in its wild career of lawlessness, as he preached righteousness to his contemporaries. Many, probably, hated him; some, perhaps, could not make him out; others doubtless thought him a visionary, building a big ship on dry land and talking of a judgment to fall on the world, whilst none but his immediate family followed him into the ark. Such might he have appeared to men; but what was he before God? All turned on this. Man's judgment of him would avail nothing in the matter of the preservation of the human race. Had they raised him to a pinnacle of greatness unequaled by any one before or since-had they proclaimed him a perfect man fit for the presence of God-if God had not accepted him no living creature would have been saved for the new world. " But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." So he appears here as a type, may we not say, of Him-that one corn of wheat, on which all really then, and all manifestly afterward, hung. But Noah was only a type, for he found grace in the eyes of the Lord; whereas He, who likened Himself to the corn of wheat, was full of.grace in Himself; not filled with it, but full of it. And in His case, as in Noah's, all depended on what He was before God. The world's conception of Him had no bearing on the final destiny of man and the earth. Rejecting Him, condemning Him, they rejected their own mercies and sealed their own condemnation, as did the antediluvian world. In Noah was seen the one God had accepted; in Christ the one in whom the Father was well pleased.

Perusing still further Noah's history, we reach the day, when he entered the ark with his family and the different pairs of animals as previously appointed. Now he learns the exact time of the flood, and the period of its duration; for the times, previously hidden, are disclosed. As righteous in God's sight he enters the ark, but his family enter with him. They were not righteous that we read of. No approval of any of them is recorded in the word; yet they entered, and were saved. Noah inside the ark was but a pattern of all who are saved; but in taking in his family with him, we see him a type of another. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." Not a word, not a hint have we of what Shem was-not a syllable of approbation of Japheth. They were saved, preserved from the common destruction because Noah was righteous, and there in that ark they were living exemplifications of what it is to be saved by the righteousness of another. And how complete the salvation was, for all who went in came out. None were lost inside, but all died who were outside. Secure, because God shut Noah in, his family were saved through the flood, and saved with him. But here we must mark a difference between the type and the antitype. They were saved with, but not in Noah; they were preserved because of, but not by Noah. He was in the ark with them enjoying the same salvation; he was there as righteous himself; they, as exemplifying the obedience of faith, were inside because of the righteousness of another -their father Noah. We learn what they learned; the possibility, the certainty, the security of salvation through the righteousness of another-for us the Lord Jesus Christ; and we experience what Noah experienced, preservation as in the ark from the waters of judgment. He was not the ark, he was inside it; and we are in Christ. Thus, we can distinguish in Noah between the man as he was, and the typical character he sustained. All saved by grace will learn like him what it is to be in the ark, brought through death, the judgment deserved because of sin; but he stands forth as the righteous one because of whom others are saved. In this surely he is a type of Him that was to come.

Another feature in this history should be taken notice of-the prominence given to Noah, and the little notice of his sons. When the animals entered the ark, they went in, two and two, unto Noah, the one because of whom they were preserved. When the Lord closed the door on the living freight which the ark carried, we read, " the Lord shut him (i.e. Noah) in." When all around outside were dead, we read, "Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." God's eye rested on him throughout the flood, and God thought of him after it, for we read, " God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark" ( 8. 1). In all this Shem, Ham, and Japheth are, as it were, unseen. They are mentioned as entering the ark; but on Noah God's eye rested, and to him His thoughts were directed. He is-remembered, and the rest came in remembrance only because with him. For forty days the flood increased. At the expiration of five months the ark first touched the ground, a symptom that the waters were diminishing. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be discerned, and a hope of ere long emerging from the ark could arise in the hearts of its inhabitants. To keep seed alive on the face of all the earth was the reason of the living creatures being preserved. Noah knew he would come out of the ark, but now he might learn that the time of exit was approaching, for the tops of the mountains appeared above the hitherto unbroken surface of the waters. For forty days did he wait, and then sent forth a raven through the window, and after the raven a dove. The raven would tell when the waters were dried up from off the earth; the dove would teach him when the face of the ground was dry. The raven went to and fro, but the dove sought for re-admittance into the ark, and found it. The raven returned, it would seem, to it, indicating that the waters were not yet dried up from off the earth, but needed not re-admittance within. It could feed on what it found; the dove could not feed without till vegetation had recommenced. A week after the dove's first return the welcome tidings were received, as she re-entered in the evening with an olive leaf plucked off in her mouth. Vegetation had revived; this little leaf showed it. How welcome that little harbinger of the future must have been! Another week of patient waiting was passed, when the dove went forth for the third time, to return no more. She had found a home in the new world. Her non-return this time was as expressive as her previous returns had been; and Noah, interpreting aright her absence, uncovered the covering of the ark, and beheld, for the first time, the new world he and his children were to people. The face of the ground was dry, but the earth was not ready for his reception. Two months longer nearly had he to wait in the ark till God, who shut him in, gave him leave to come out. The face of the ground was dry on the first day of the first month; but he would not trust to appearances: he waited for permission to come out, as he had entered, at the express command of God. God knew the times and seasons, which Noah did not: He knew when he must enter, and He knew when he should come out. The sight of his eyes could not make Noah forsake the ark, nor the desire of his heart make him cross the threshold of the door, till God commanded him. To God's will he submitted, and to God's guidance he committed himself. Had he left the ark when the dove did, he would have left it too soon: the face of the ground was dry, but he must wait till the earth was dried. In all this he shows himself perfect. He was really, he would be practically, dependent on God, like Him who allowed neither the sight of His eyes, nor the natural desire for food, to draw Him aside from the path of unconditional, constant dependence on the Lord His God.

As in the ark he had manifested perfect confidence in God, so, as soon as ever he leaves it, his first thought is for God, and he takes the first opportunity of ascribing all the glory of their deliverance to Him. With a thankful heart surely it was he built an altar, and took of every clean beast and every clean fowl, and offered on it burnt offerings. It was no grudging service. He did not take one animal and one bird, but one of each class of the birds and fowls which were clean. He discriminated between the clean and unclean of the animals and the birds, because he knew that the One to whom he was about to offer them was holy, and could accept nothing that was not clean; and he disowned for himself and family all thought of offering what they chose, like Cain, as he drew near with that which God could accept like Abel. How often has this discrimination shown by Noah been overlooked, as men have thought of approaching God with something of their own, to be accepted without reference to God's estimate of it. Noah, from whom all on earth are lineally descended, acted otherwise. Would that our father Noah's example and principle were more widely accepted and conformed to! But to return. By this act he owned he needed a Savior, that life must be given up for his life. In this lie took the place of a sinner, but a saved sinner, brought through death into resurrection. There is, however, another character in which he here appears; he leads the worship of others after the deliverance from God's judgment is accomplished. Does he not in this seem to typify Him who leads the praises of the redeemed? And, if we cannot call it. a type, we may observe the striking parallel, and mark also- the contrast. " In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee," is the language of the Psalm ( 22. 22), speaking of the Lord after His resurrection, which is especially applied to Him in the Hebrews ( 2. 12), as pointing out the association of the redeemed with Him. So Noah, foreshadowing this, builds the altar in the midst of his family, subjects with himself of God's salvation. In their worship that day Noah took the initiative, as the Lord does and will (Psa. 22:25) in the company of the redeemed; Noah, because sharing with them the deliverance-the Lord, because raised up from death. Others well know full salvation by His blood.

To that sacrifice there is an immediate response. It could not be otherwise. God saw in it what, perhaps, Noah did not, and the fragrance of a richer sacrifice, which it foreshadowed, rose up before Him. He smelled a sweet savor (the first occasion on which this term is used), yet we read not of incense offered up with it. It needed nothing to sweeten it; the sacrifice itself was, and we can say is, a sweet savor before Him, for its pleasantness, its acceptableness, will never fade away. And now we are introduced to what followed from it. God held converse with Himself. The Godhead had counseled about creating man (Gen. 1:26): God had held converse with Himself about destroying all flesh (Gen. 6:3). The Father and the Son, too, we read, held converse about the work the Lord was to undertake (Psa. 40:6,7); and here God speaks to Himself: " The Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living as I have done. While the earth remained), seed time and harvest, cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." He knew what man was, still unchanged in heart. What he was before the flood, that he was after it; and, when none were alive in the new world but Noah and his family, God thus speaks to Himself about him. Punishment could not change him. Could he earn the favor of God? Impossible. Could he preserve the world from a second flood, and the ground from being again cursed because of his sin? No: but what man could not do God could, because of the sacrifice. Now, all rests on the virtue of the sacrifice. No flood shall again desolate the earth, nor, whilst the earth lasts, shall the order of the seasons be interrupted. Stability on earth, where fallen man is concerned, can only be secured by sacrifice, and God can righteously deal with man in a new way by virtue of it.

And now a fresh subject comes before us. As creation had been visited by a deluge because of man, but was promised immunity from its recurrence because of the sacrifice, man, too, whose sin brought down the judgment, should reap benefits from the sacrifice. " And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." God speaks again to Noah, but He speaks to his sons likewise; to them for the first time. Till they had come through the flood they had, as it were, no place before Him. He communicated his mind to Noah, and to him only. Now they have a standing before God, as it were, and He speaks to them, but with Noah. Apart from Noah they had no place; but when speaking to him now He speaks to them likewise, and in language to which men, since the fall, had been strangers. " God blessed Noah and his sons." At creation He blessed the moving creatures of the waters, and the fowls of the air: on the sixth day He blessed man; and on the seventh, the Sabbath day. The fall took place, after which God blessing anything was language unheard of. Now a change takes place: what induced the change? The burnt offering, which rose up a sweet savor to God. On that ground He could, He has blessed, sinful creatures." To be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth," had been part of God's blessing in Eden; "to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth," is His blessing after the flood. His purpose does not change. He created man for this object, and He would have him fulfill it. The flood seemed to have put an end to it; but His counsel shall stand, and here it comes out. Time cannot alter it, nor the malicious machinations of the enemy frustrate it. He sent Noah and His sons abroad on the earth to fulfill His purpose, by replenishing it. Yet there is a difference, and a marked one. To Adam God added: " and to subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:28). The Son of Man will exercise this sovereignty when He reigns (Psa. 8). To Noah and his sons God promises to put the fear of them on all the animals on land and water. All should feel fallen man's superiority, though he had not the commission to subdue them. To the first Adam was that given; by the last Adam will it be carried out; for such a commission is not entrusted to a fallen creature.

And here, in connection with the sacrifice, God conveys to man a grant of every living creature: Into your hand are they delivered; every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." All the resources of the earth are thus placed at his disposal, both what it produced and what it carried on its surface-a vast change from the language in which God addressed Adam after the fall, and a fuller grant than that which He bestowed on him in Paradise. After the fall, He took from man the fruits which he had so misused, and sent him forth from Eden to eat the herb of the field; now He gives him to eat of everything. By sin man lost; in virtue of the sacrifice, God could be a bounteous giver. But it is not merely recovery; it is more. In Eden they could eat the fruits of the ground; in the new world they could eat of everything-an illustration of the truth conveyed in the lines,

"In Him the tribes of Adam boast More blessings than their father lost."

Further on, in the history of the world, when Israel stood before God on the ground of their responsibility, to be blessed if obedient, a restriction in the articles of food took place; a distinction was made between the clean and the unclean, and the former only were allowed them. But when the sacrifice had been really offered up and accepted, and God began again to deal with man on the ground of the sweet savor which ascended up, all curtailment of the articles of food is removed, for " whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat, asking no questions for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (1 Cor. 10:25,26). " Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:4,5)-God's word to Noah, setting it apart for our use, and our prayer to Him. What a difference there is between dealing with man according to what he is or deserves, and acting towards him according to the acceptableness of the sacrifice! Noah and his sons now experience the latter, as Adam, and all before the flood, had proved the former.

Unrestricted as they were in the articles of food, this comprehensive grant had one condition annexed, " Flesh with the blood thereof, which is the life thereof, shall ye not eat." Life belonged to God, and man was to own it; he could not, therefore, feed on it. Man's life, however, was precious in God's sight, and He here gives clear evidence of it: If a beast took man's life, God would require the blood of the life at the hand of that beast; and, if a man took a fellow-creature's life, "at the hand of every man's brother will I," He said, " require the life of man." As Creator, He will require from any living creature the life of man. The animals prey on each other, and man might kill of all kinds for his use; but man's life was precious in God's sight, " for in the image of God made he man." As God's representative on earth, to take. man's life unlawfully is to disturb the order of creation. Who has power over a representative but the one whom he represents? Any infraction, then, of this principle, God would take cognizance of. To enforce this, government on earth in the hands of man, a new thing since the fall, is next introduced. " Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man." The sword of justice is here, for the first time placed in man's hand, to be used in righteousness, without mercy. Cain was especially preserved from death by man; here death is enjoined. Before the flood, what a scene it must have been of lawlessness: now, order is introduced, and a strictly righteous rule is established, with death as the penalty of its infraction. And one day this will be fully carried out, when the Son of Man, of whom Noah is here a type, shall re-establish God's authority on earth, and death be the sinner's portion (Psa. 75:3; Isa. 65:20; Psa. 101:8), after the era of disorder and lawlessness, which Scripture speaks of (2 Thess. 2), shall pass away in the overflowing of divine judgment and public execution of sinners (Rev. 19:20,21).

Throughout this history, side by side with man, we have creation introduced as deeply interested, because especially affected, by man's sin. God makes a covenant with Noah and his sons, and every living creature, that no flood should again destroy the earth. He had said it in His heart, but He would have them to be acquainted with His mind; He here proclaims it, and gives a token of the covenant between Him and the earth. He would look on the bow, and remember the everlasting covenant. How God delighted in Noah's sacrifice! and, delighting in it, would have all to know it. Blessings descended on man, and with him on all that had breath. He makes a covenant, binding on Himself, never again to destroy the earth by a flood. He had said to Noah, before the deluge, " with thee will I establish my covenant:" now He enters into one, not with Noah only, but with all that moves on the earth. The announcement in Eden of the woman's seed depended on the preservation of the human race from destruction. With Noah, therefore, He would establish His covenant. But after the flood God binds Himself to all the living creatures; so all share in the results of Noah's sacrifice, as all will share in the result of that sacrifice already offered up, and ever had in remembrance before God. Great, however, is the difference. All were assured of preservation from catastrophe such as had taken place; but creation know, not merely immunity from a second flood, I the full enjoyment which the Lord's presence will secure, when He reigns in power. It was after the flood creation learned that God would enter thus into covenant. It will be after the long night of weeping that the day will dawn full of brightness and joy (Psa. 96-98)

But Noah here also was only a type, for he made wine, drank of it, and was drunk. He who should have exercised government on earth is found uncovered in his tent. How soon man fails! Aaron, Moses, David Solomon, tell the same tale of unfitness for that place ( which man should, but the Son of man alone will, fill without failing. All, therefore, point to Him; and as each failure is recorded, the mind travels onward to Him that is to come, taking in by the way, from each type some thought of the offices and glory that will be sustained in perfection by none but the woman's seed.

One more remark before closing. To many of God's saints promises about their seed were given; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David received them. To Noah we read of none being given. This is surely fit, for all God does is right. But can we not discern the fitness?

In Noah we have in type the coming One actually on earth in millennial power, as we see man having government committed into his hand, to rule in righteousness. Beyond this, as far as earth is concerned, nothing can go. So to Noah and to Solomon-types of the Lord as Lord and Christ-God gave no promise about their seed. They shadowed forth Him as He will be, when there will be nothing more here to be desired. For what, as we read their histories, we see is wanted is, not one to fill a place different in character to that they respectively filled, but the One, who will sustain in righteousness and in continuance that authority and rule they in measure exercised, under which alone this groaning creation can be set free, and be at rest forever. For that One we, too, wait. C. E. S.

Postscript

Just as the printing was commenced, I was asked by a friend to review a book " On the use of Jehovah and Elohim in the Pentateuch," etc. It is one of the many pitiful expressions of the ignorant stupidity of German neology, now so plentiful. My present article is the best answer I could have given, containing, as it does, the explanation of the real meaning of the two names, Elohim and Jehovah, and their connections with different displays of divine glory; and, at the same time, putting into the hands of these that fear God the means of examining for themselves the use of these two terms in the Book of the Psalms, and so of judging of the folly which hides itself under the display of knowledge about Elohistic and Jehovistic Scriptures.

The effect of restoring the original names and titles sometimes is to make a failure in the translation apparent; e.g., Book III., No. 17, ver. 8, "O Jehovah Elohim of hosts, who is a strong Jah like unto thee?" "A strong Jah," I trow, would never have dropped from a Hebrew's pen.

In conclusion, until the difference of the titles-" Son of God " and " Son of Man "-is learned, and that too of the heavenly glory from the earthly glory of the Lord is seen, the Psalms never will be understood.

The Incarnation, Life, Service, rejection by man, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of the blessed Jesus, all took place in time and on earth. But they were the expressions of counsels long before the earth existed, and not for earth only and a people on it, but for heaven also, and God who is there. And if the land is to be married to Jehovah, so likewise is the Church to be the Bride, the Lamb's wife. Israel and the earthly saints will be subjects to the King in righteousness upon the earth; the Church and the heavenly saints are members of that body of which He is the glorified head; they to have all blessings in time on the earth, under Him, we to have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Him.

G.V.W.

Psalm 1

(*First Book (1-41) " The faithful are looked at as not yet driven out from Jerusalem; hence covenant mercies and the name of Jehovah are referred to."

Observe: The first seven chapters in Acts-as containing the Spirit's view, given in Jerusalem by such as Peter, James, and John, of Messiah's having been on earth and now on high-cast much light on this book as historic and also as to its prophetic bearing on the Jews hereafter.)

The Book of Psalms BOOK 1* No. 1. Psa. 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous: but

the way of the ungodly shall perish.

1:1-3 The perfect man; 4, 5 the ungodly ones; 6 Jehovah's judgment of both.

Psalm 10

Why standest thou afar off, 0 Jehovah? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom Jehovah abhorreth.

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: Elohim is not in all his thoughts.

His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor is may fall by his strong ones.

He hath said in his heart, El hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Arise, O Jehovah; O El, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

Wherefore doth the wicked contemn Elohim? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

Jehovah is King forever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

10:1 Cry to Jehovah, 2 against the man of the earth; 3-11 his character, ways, doings; 12-18 appeal to Jehovah El Elohim, King, against the wicked man and the heathen, and for the poor.

Psalm 100

A Psalm of Praise.

Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands. Serve Jehovah with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that Jehovah he is Elohim: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For Jehovah is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

100:1 Shout to Jehovah, all the land! 2 Serve with joy; 3 relationship to him, 4 duties, 5 his character.

Ver. 1, for "all ye lands" Hebrew has "all the land."

Psalm 101

A Psalm of David.

I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Jehovah, will I sing.

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.

Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of Jehovah.

The principles of rule.

101:1 Mercy and judgment shall be my song; 2 Jehovah, come to me, in my house; I will walk, with a perfect heart, 3-8 evil banished, the faithful upheld in the land and city.

[Read this also, after 91 and then 102 and 108.]

Psalm 102

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth

out his complaint before Jehovah.

Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and let my cry come unto thee.

Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

I watch, and am as a sparrow- alone upon the house top.

Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,

Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou is halt lifted me up, and cast me down.

My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

But thou, O Jehovah, shalt endure forever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come.

For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.

So the heathen shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

When Jehovah shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise Jah.

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did Jehovah behold the

earth;

To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

To declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem

When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.

He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

I said, O my El, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

102:1-8 Cry to Jehovah in trouble, weakness, among enemies; 9, 10 under wrath; 11 I pass, but 12 thou, Jehovah, endurest. 13-16 Zion's mercies and hope are in thee, 17-22 this is known to faith on the earth; 23, 24 the weakened one's speech; 25-28 oracular reply thereto.

If Zion's mercies are in Jehovah and known to faith on earth to be there-" what of Him

whose strength was weakened and days shortened, and he taken away in the midst thereof—though Jehovah endures forever?" The answer is "He is of old, the Creator, the unchanging one, etc., and the children of His servants shall continue, and their seed be established forever."

Psalm 103

A Psalm of David.

Bless Jehovah, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemed' thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Jehovah executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger forever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Jehovah hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless Jehovah, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

Bless ye Jehovah, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

Bless Jehovah, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless Jehovah, O my soul.

Grace, forgiveness and healing reaches the faithful.

103:1-5 My soul, bless Jehovah—forget not his benefits; 6, 7 his ways, 8-10 character, 11-13 mercy measured to us, 14—22 we in presence of him (17) and his glory.

103. Compare this as uttered by David, under law, and as the song for the Millennial saints on earth; and notice the contrast as to magnitude between ver. 11 and Heb. 10 and Rev. 4; 5 to us now, and between ver. 13 and our sonship Eph. 1 and 2.

103. Redemption, 104. Creation, 105. Patriarchs, 106. The Nation.

Psalm 104

Bless Jehovah, O my soul. O Jehovah my Elohim, thou art very great thou art clothed with honor and majesty.

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:

Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.

Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.

They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.

Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.

By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

He watered the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

He caused the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart.

The trees of Jehovah are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he had planted;

Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from El.

The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor until the evening.

O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.

These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them. their meat in due season.

That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

The glory of Jehovah shall endure forever: Jehovah shall rejoice in his works.

He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke.

I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live: I will sing praise to my Elohim while I have my being.

My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in Jehovah.

Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou Jehovah, O my soul. Hallelu-Jah.

104:1 The glory of Jehovah, my Elohim, 2-4 in creating and using the heavens, 5-24 the earth, 25-30 the sea, &c; all things made, upheld, sustained, nurtured by him and used; 31, 32 his glorious majesty endures and his pleasure in his works; 33, 34 I will praise him, 35 let sinners be consumed out of the earth and the wicked be no more.

Psalm 105

Give thanks unto Jehovah; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.

Seek Jehovah, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;

O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.

He is Jehovah our Elohim: his judgments are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;

And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:

Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance:

When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.

When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;

Saying, Touch not my Messiah, and do my prophets no harm.

Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.

He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

Whose feet they hurt with fetters: lie was laid in iron:

Until the time that his word came: the word of Jehovah tried him.

The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

He made him lord [adon] of his house, and ruler of all his substance:

To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.

Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.

He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.

He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen.

They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.

He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.

He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land.

He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.

He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number,

And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.

He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.

He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them.

He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.

The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.

And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:

And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people;

That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Hallelu-Jah.

The good side. He using individuals.

105:1-4 Call to thank Jehovah and extol him before the peoples, 5-15 remember his works, ye seed of Abraham, to whom unconditional promise and covenant, everlasting for Israel, and oath to Isaac individually, &c. were given; 17 Joseph, 26 Moses and Aaron, 27 and all that he did in Egypt, 37 in the Exodus, 40 in the wilderness, 44 in the land.

Acts 7 throws light on Psa. 105 and 106. 105 gives the line of covenant (ver. 8) and promise (ver. 42) to Abraham running through the individuals chosen of Him as heads—mercy and grace distinguishing; judgment going before and on and with them. 106 gives the works of the mass—judged (in contrast with Acts 7) to get them into blessing.

Psalm 106

Hallelu-Jah. O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah? who can show forth all his praise?

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies;

but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.

Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted El in the desert.

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of Jehovah.

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

They forgat El their savior, which had done great things in Egypt;

Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah.

Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom Jehovah commanded them:

But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

Therefore was the wrath of Jehovah kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:

And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

Save us, O Jehovah our Elohim, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

Blessed be Jehovah Elohim of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Hallelu-Jah.

The bad side. The mass rebelling against Him.

106:1, 2 Praise and thank Jehovah, for he is good and his mercy forever; his praises unutterable; 3 blessed are the obedient; 4 individual appeal for favor and salvation, and 5 privilege; 6 we have sinned with our fathers, 7-43 historic confession as to the Exodus, the wilderness and in the land, 44-46 his yearning mercy; 47 save us from among the goïm, that we may thank and triumph in thee. 48 Praise.

Psalm 107

*Fifth Book: Psalms 107-150. Working up to the full blessing, but not in it.

O give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

Let the redeemed of Jehovah say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness; and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

Because they rebelled against the words of El, and contemned the counsel of Gneliōn:

Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help.

Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Fools because of their transgression, and because of iniquities, are afflicted.

Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

These see the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep.

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.

Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry ground;

A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

And there he maketh the hungry to dwell; that they may prepare a city for habitation;

And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

Again, they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

Yet setteth he the poor on high f'rom affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of Jehovah.

107:1—3 Thank Jehovah, for he is good and his mercy forever, ye redeemed of him from all lands, from the east, west, north, and south. 4-9* and 10-16** and 17-22*** and 23-32**** four different classes. His acting upon lands, for sin:33, 34; for mercy 35-38; 39-41 his after dealings; 42, 43 the moral of it all—the lovingkindness of Jehovah known to the righteous and the wise in the end (to the silence of iniquity), in changes upon the twelve tribes and their places of abode.

(*Wandering, need, simple fallen humanity;)

(**prisoners, pressure, daring wilfulness;)

(***fools (in plenty), death, folly;)

(****seafarers, at wits' end, human wisdom and energy, seem to be the four characteristic marks.)

Psalm 108

A Song or Psalm of David.

O Elohim, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.

Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

I will praise thee, O Jehovah, among, the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.

For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.

Be thou exalted, O Elohim, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;

That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.

Elohim hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;

Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.

Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

Wilt not thou, O Elohim, who hast cast us off? And wilt not thou, O Elohim, go forth with our hosts?

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

Through Elohim we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Faith seeks to triumph in Jehovah among the peoples and the nations. 7-9 the answer.

108:1 Purpose to praise, 2, 3 attendant circumstances; 4 why? Mercy; 5,6 may he exalt himself that his beloved may be delivered; 7-9 answer and triumph; 10, 11 new needs how met; 12, 13 faith in him.

Psalm 109

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Hold not thy peace, O Elohim of my praise;

For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken

against me with a lying tongue.

They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.

When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labor.

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.

Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Let them be before Jehovah continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

But do thou for me, O Elohim Adonay, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.

For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.

I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

Help me, O Jehovah my Elohim: O save me according to thy mercy:

That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Jehovah, hast done it.

Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

I will greatly praise Jehovah with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

The wicked one—Judas—apostate Israel—Antichrist.

109:1 Cry to Elohim of my praise; 2-5 and 16 from the slandering hater; 6-15 and 17-19 and 28, 29 imprecation on him, and 20 on all my enemies. 21-27 Hear me in my weakness and reproach; 30 and 31 I will praise, the poor is cared for.

Psalm 11

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

In Jehovah put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Jehovah is in his holy temple, Jehovah's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

Jehovah trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

For the righteous Jehovah loveth righteousness; his countenance cloth behold the upright.

11:1-3 Trust in spite of the wicked in Jehovah, 4-7 who in heaven, on his throne, deals with man down here.

11-15. Words of faith, suited to those that believe in those days.

Psalm 110

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah said unto my lord [adon], Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Jehovah shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.'

Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Adonay at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

110:1-4 Faith's report of Jehovah's thoughts and intentions about my Adon; seated at the right hand on high, he will send him out of Zion over all enemies; his people made willing—himself a priest after the order of Melchizedek.; 5-7 what he Adonay at thy right hand, will do.

Psalm 111

Hallelujah. I will praise Jehovah with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

The works of Jehovah are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth forever.

He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: Jehovah is gracious and full of compassion.

He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

He hath showed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen. The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.

They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name.

The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his cornmandments: his praise endureth forever.

111:1 Hallelu-Jah. I will praise Jehovah, wholly, in the assembly of the upright and congregation, 2 his works, and 3 work, his righteousness, 4-9 gifts, covenant, power over the heathen, also redemption; 10 his fear is the beginning of wisdom, &c.

Psalm 112

Hallelu-Jah. Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth forever.

Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

A good man showeth favor, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.

Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah.

His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

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

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

112:1-9 Hallelu-Jah. Blessedness of him that fears Jehovah; 10 grief and melting away of the wicked.

Psalm 113

Hallelu-Jah. Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah, praise the name of Jehovah.

Blessed be the name of Jehovah from this time forth and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same Jehovah's name is to be praised.

Jehovah is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Who is like unto Jehovah our Elohim, who dwelleth s on high,

Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;

That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Hallelu-Jah.

113:1-3 Hallelu-Jah, servants of Jehovah praise his name, from now onward forever: over the whole earth;4 his glory above all the goïm and the heavens; 5-9 who is like him; high, he stoops down and cares for the poor and needy and the barren.

Psalm 114

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the lord [adon], at the presence of the Eloăh of Jacob;

Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

114:7, 8 Earth called to tremble before Adon, the Eloah of Jacob, who turned rock into pool of water and flint to fountain; 1, 2 whose display when Israel came out of Egypt, as owned by him, is given 3-6.

Psalm 115

Not unto us, O Jehovah, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their Elohim?

But our Elohim is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: he is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in Jehovah: he is their help and their shield.

Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: he is their help and their shield.

Jehovah hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

He will bless them that fear Jehovah, both small and great.

Jehovah shall increase you more and more, you and your children.

Ye are blessed of Jehovah which made heaven and earth.

The heaven, even the heavens, are Jehovah's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

The dead praise not Jah, neither any that go down into silence.

But we will bless Jah from this time forth and for evermore. Hallelu-Jah.

115:1 Not to us, O Jehovah, but to thee glory,—mercy and truth are thine; 2 why should the heathen say, Where now their Elohim? 3 He is in heaven and has done his pleasure; 4-7 the idols! 8 and their makers! 9-11 Israel, house of Aaron, fearers of Jehovah, trust in him, 12, 13 he thinks of us and will bless you, 14, 15 you are the blessed of him the Creator; 16, 17 larger still; 18 we will ever bless Jah.

Psalm 116

I love Jehovah, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

Then called I upon the name of Jehovah; O Jehovah, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

Gracious is Jehovah, and righteous; yea, our Elohim is merciful.

Jehovah preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.

For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before Jehovah in the land of the living.

I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

I said in my haste, All men are liars.

What shall I render unto Jehovah for all his benefits toward me?

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of Jehovah.

I will pay my vows unto Jehovah now in the presence of all his people.

Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints.

O Jehovah, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of Jehovah.

I will pay my vows unto Jehovah now in the presence of all his people,

In the courts of Jehovah's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Hallelu-Jah.

116:1-5 I love Jehovah, he has heard me; 6-11 he delivered my soul from death; 12-17 I own the debt, 18, 19 before his people and in the midst of the courts of his house in Jerusalem.

Psalm 117

O praise Jehovah, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of Jehovah endureth forever. Hallelu-Jah.

117:1 All the goïm:, and all nations praise Jehovah. 2 His mercy is great to us and his truth, forever.

Psalm 118

O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good: because his mercy endureth forever.

Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth forever.

Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth forever.

Let them now that fear Jehovah say, that his mercy endureth forever.

I called upon Jah in distress: Jah answered me, and set me in a large place.

Jehovah is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Jehovah taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in man.

It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in princes.

All nations compassed me about: but in the name of Jehovah will I destroy them.

They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of Jehovah I will destroy them.

They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of Jehovah I will destroy them.

Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but Jehovah helped me.

Jah is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

The right hand of Jehovah is exalted: the right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of Jah.

Jah hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise Jah:

This gate of Jehovah, into which the righteous shall enter.

I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

This is Jehovah's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day which Jehovah hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Save now, I beseech thee, O Jehovah: O Jehovah, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.

Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah: we have blessed you out of the house of Jehovah.

El is Jehovah, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Thou art my El, and I will praise thee: thou art my Elohim, I will exalt thee.

O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

118:1-4 Let Israel, the house of Aaron, all that fear Jehovah say now, his mercy is forever. 5 I called in distress; Jah answered me, and 6-9 Jehovah will care for me; 10-12 all the goïm were against me, in his name will I destroy them: 13 Thou hast thrust sore at me, but he helped: 14 Jah is my strength and joy and song, and 15, 16 of the righteous too. 17 Not death but to declare his works is mine; 18 chastened but not given over to death: 19 open to me the gates of righteousness—I will praise Jah. Answer, 20, 22, 24 this is the gate of Jehovah,—the stone; 23 wonderful! 24 it is the day; 25 save and prosper! 26 Messiah owned; the blessing from the house of Jehovah; 27 he owned as the giver of light and self sacrifice; 28 I own him. 29 (as 1) Give thanks to Jehovah for he is good: for his mercy forever.

Psalm 119

(Author’s Notes Psalm 119.- The written Word the only recognized index to divine thoughts—but subjection to Jehovah must be acted upon in order to use it aright.

I give what may seem the distinctive thought dominant in each eight verses. But I fear, though it is not a first, or a second, attempt on my part, that it is not a success.

Each line, in each of the eight verses, begins with a letter of the Alphabet—the letters taken in succession as A, B, C.)

Book V. No. 13. Psa. 119

Aleph. Vs. 1-8

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah.

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.

Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.

I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.

I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.

à 1-8 Integrity and self-surrender to Jehovah's word the pathway into the obedience of faith.

Beth. Vs. 9-16

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me so not wander from thy commandments.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Blessed art thou, O Jehovah: teach me thy statutes.

With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.

I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.

I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto is thy ways.

I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

á 9- 16 Cleansing power of the word for a young man's ways.

Gimel. Vs. 17-24

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.

My soul breaketh for the longing that it bath unto thy so judgments at all times.

Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.

Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.

Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.

ð 17-24 Thou wilt surely stand by thy word;

Daleth. Vs. 25-32

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

I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.

Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.

My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O Jehovah, put me not to shame.

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

ã 25- 32 for the soul needs quickening and enlargement,

He. Vs. 33-40

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

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

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

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

Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.

Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.

Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.

ä 33- 40 and teaching and whiting and quickening, in order for the word to be established in it;

Vau. Vs. 41-48

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Jehovah, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.

And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.

So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever.

And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.

I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

å 41- 48 and then mercies—so as to be strong from it.

Zain. Vs. 49-56

Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath so quickened me.

The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.

I remembered thy judgments of old, O Jehovah;, and have comforted myself.

Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.

Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage,

I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night, and have kept thy law.

This I had; because I kept thy precepts.

æ 49- 56 The truster in the word has comfort.

Cheth. Vs. 57-64

Thou art my portion, O Jehovah: I have said that I would keep thy words.

I entreated thy favor with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.

I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.

I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.

At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.

I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.

The earth, O Jehovah, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes.

ç 57-64 As Sting such, Jehovah is my portion.

Teth. Vs. 65-72

Thou hest dealt well with thy servant, O Jehovah, according unto thy word.

Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.

The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.

Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

ñ 65-72 Retrospect. Dealt with of Jehovah, according to the word in affliction, I am profited.

Jod. Vs. 73-80

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.

They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.

I know, O Jehovah, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.

Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.

Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.

Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

é 73-80 My Maker! thy word guides me to understand thee.

Caph. Vs. 81- 88

My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?

For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.

How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.

Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

ë 81- 88 Thy word fails not, though I may; I wait for it, amid depths and trial.

Lamed. Vs. 89- 96

Forever, O Jehovah, thy word is settled in heaven.

Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

ì 89- 96 Forever, Jehovah, thy word is settled in heaven,-thy law keeps the soul down here;

Mem. Vs. 97-104

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.

I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep too thy precepts.

I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.

I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth

Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

î 97-104 how blessedly, here, does it humble and exalt me;

Nun. Vs. 105-112

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Jehovah, according unto thy word.

Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Jehovah, and teach me thy judgments.

My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

ð 105-112 it is light to the energetic life it has given,;

Samech. Vs. 113-120

I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my Elohim.

Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.

Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.

Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.

My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.

í 113-120 and forms the soul in awe of thee, amid the wicked around.

Ain. Vs. 121-128

I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.

Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.

Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.

Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.

I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.

It is time for thee, Jehovah, to work: for they have made void thy law.

Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

ò 121-128 It teaches to lean on thee, in the sense of this Nazarite ship and of thy thoughts.

Pe. Vs. 129-136

Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

ô 129-136 Admiration of the word, in result leading still to dependance.

Tzaddi. Vs. 137-144

Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, and upright are thy judgments.

Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.

Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.

Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.

The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

ö 137-144 The righteous character of Jehovah, and his word.

Koph. Vs. 145-152

I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Jehovah: I will keep thy statutes.

I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.

I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.

Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O Jehovah, quicken me according to thy judgment.

They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.

Thou art near, O Jehovah; and all thy commandments are truth.

Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them forever.

÷ 145-152 In the depths,-confidence of faith is in the word known of old to be forever.

Ersh. Vs. 153-160

Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.

Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.

Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not m thy statutes.

Great are thy tender mercies, O Jehovah: quicken me according to thy judgments.

Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.

I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.

Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O Jehovah, according to thy lovingkindness.

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.

ø 153-160 In affliction and persecution., it stays me, that thy word is from the beginning and forever.

Schin. Vs. 161-168

Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Jehovah, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.

My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee.

ù 161-168 (2 ù, 3 ù, 1 ù, 2 ù) increasing preciousness of the word from its suitableness to circumstances.

Tau. Vs. 169-176

Let my cry come near before thee, O Jehovah: give me understanding according to thy word.

Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.

My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes.

My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.

Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.

I have longed for thy salvation, O Jehovah; and thy law is my delight.

Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

ú 169-176 It suffices as a stay even in the discovery of inward depravity. It is my all.

Their hearts tasting and feeling after Him.

119.- The written Word the only recognized index to divine thoughts—but subjection to Jehovah must be acted upon in order to use it aright.

I give what may seem the distinctive thought dominant in each eight verses. But I fear, though it is not a first, or a second, attempt on my part, that it is not a success.

Each line, in each of the eight verses, begins with a letter of the Alphabet-the letters taken in succession as A, B, C.

à 1-8 Integrity and self-surrender to Jehovah's word the pathway into the obedience of faith.

á 9-16 Cleansing power of the word for a young man's ways.

ð 17-24 Thou wilt surely stand by thy word;

ã 25-32 for the soul needs quickening and enlargement,

ä 33-40 and teaching and whiting and quickening, in order for the word to be established in it;

å 41-48 and then mercies-so as to be strong from it.

æ 49-56 The truster in the word has comfort.

ç 57-64 As Sting such, Jehovah is my portion.

ñ 65-72 Retrospect. Dealt with of Jehovah, according to the word in affliction, I am profited.

é 73-80 My Maker! thy word guides me to understand thee.

ë 81-88 Thy word fails not, though I may; I wait for it, amid depths and trial.

ì 89-96 Forever, Jehovah, thy word is settled in heaven,-thy law keeps the soul down here;

î 97-104 how blessedly, here, does it humble and exalt me;

ð 105-112 it is light to the energetic life it has given,;

í 113-120 and forms the soul in awe of thee, amid the wicked around.

ò 121-128 It teaches to lean on thee, in the sense of this Nazarite ship and of thy thoughts.

ô 129-136 Admiration of the word, in result leading still to dependance.

ö 137-144 The righteous character of Jehovah, and his word.

÷ 145-152 In the depths,-confidence of faith is in the word known of old to be forever.

ø 153-160 In affliction and persecution., it stays me, that thy word is from the beginning and forever.

ù 161-168 (2 ù, 3 ù, 1 ù, 2 ù) increasing preciousness of the word from its suitableness to circumstances.

ú 169-176 It suffices as a stay even in the discovery of inward depravity. It is my all.

The above Psalm seems to be a sort of song illustrative of the properties of the word—in grace—in an evil world—to those that have wandered but are returning to Jehovah.

Psalm 12

To the chief Musician upon Sheminith [or, the eighth], A Psalm of David.

Help, Jehovah; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

Jehovah shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:

Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord [adon] over us?

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith Jehovah; I will see him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

The words of Jehovah are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O Jehovah, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

12:1 Cry to Jehovah for the pious, 2 as before the double-hearted.; 3-5 faith in him against the boaster; He will undertake; 6 His words are pure, and kept from that race and the wicked around.

Psalm 120

In my distress I cried unto Jehovah, and he heard me.

Deliver my soul, O Jehovah, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

120:1, 2 In distress I cried to Jehovah, Save me from lying lips and a deceitful tongue; 3, 4 its judgment; 5-7 lament.

Psalm 121

A Song of degrees.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from Jehovah, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy a right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

Jehovah shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

Jehovah shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

121:1, 2 I look up; my help is from Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth. 3-8 (oracular voice) Jehovah is thy keeper—keeper of Israel, &c.

Psalm 122

A Song of degrees of David.

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of Jehovah.

Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah.

For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.

Because of the house of Jehovah our Elohim I will seek thy good.

122:1, 2 Heart in Jerusalem; 3-5 its praises; 6 pray for its peace and prosper; 7, 8 I pray for and bless it! 9 for the sake of the house of Jehovah our Elohim.

Psalm 123

A Song of degrees.

Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters [lords, adonim], and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon Jehovah our Elohim, until that he have mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

123:1 I look up, 2 as a servant—for mercy; 3, 4 still among the wicked.

Psalm 124

A Song of degrees of David.

If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, now may Israel say;

If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.

Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth.

124:1-5 Jehovah has been Israel's savior from man, or all had been lost. 6-8 Blessed be he, maker of heaven and of earth.

Psalm 125

A Song of Degrees.

They that trust in Jehovah shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so Jehovah is round about his people from henceforth even forever.

For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Do good, O Jehovah, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, Jehovah shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

125:1 They that trust in Jehovah are as mount Zion. 2 He is around his people (amm, Israel) forever, 3 to save them from wickedness; 4, 5 to reward man according to his doings. Peace on Israel.

Psalm 126

A Song of degrees.

When Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the

heathen, Jehovah hath done great things for them.

Jehovah hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Turn again our captivity, O Jehovah, as the streams in the south.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

126:1, 2 Zion's captivity turned—we joyed, the goïm owned it; 3 our owning of it; 4 prayer; 5, 6 sorrow owned as his way to bless.

Psalm 127

A Song of degrees for Solomon.

Except Jehovah build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except Jehovah keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Lo, children are an heritage of Jehovah: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

127:1 house built and city kept in vain without Jehovah; so 2 as to food, 3-5 so as to children,—their praise is from Jehovah.

Psalm 128

A Song of degrees.

Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah; that walketh in his ways.

For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth Jehovah.

Jehovah shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

128:1 Blessed is he that fears Jehovah and walks in his ways; 2-6 blessed in time and on earth—as to Zion, Jerusalem and Israel.

Psalm 129

A Song of degrees.

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.

The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.

Jehovah is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:

Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you: we bless you in the name of Jehovah.

129:1-3 Depths of sorrows from man have been mine; 4 Jehovah is righteous, he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked; 5-8 imprecation on all haters of Zion.

Psalm 13

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

How long wilt thou forget me, O Jehovah? forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O Jehovah my Elohim: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

I will sing unto Jehovah, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

13:1, 2 Exercise in faith; 3-5 cry to Jehovah my Elohim as of one trusting to mercy; 6 hope.

Psalm 130

A Song of degrees.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Jehovah.

Adonay, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, Jah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Adonay, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for Jehovah, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for Adonay more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in Jehovah: for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

130:1 Out of the depths I cried to Jehovah, 2 hear; 3,4 sin! but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared; 5.1 wait and hope, 6 intensely; 7 let Israel hope in him and his redemption; 8 he will redeem.

Psalm 131

A Song of degrees of David.

Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.

Let Israel hope in Jehovah from henceforth and forever.

131:1, 2 I am lowly; 3 let Israel hope in Jehovah henceforth and forever.

Psalm 132

A Song of degrees.

Jehovah, remember David, and all his afflictions:

How he sware unto Jehovah, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;

Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;

I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,

Until I find out a place for Jehovah, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.

We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.

Arise, O Jehovah, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.

Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of thy Messiah.

Jehovah hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.

For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

This is my rest forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy is her poor with bread.

I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for my Messiah.

His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.

132:1 Jehovah, remember David and his afflictions, 2-5 his purpose to find a place for Jehovah, 6 we heard of it in Ephratah and found it; 7-9 we will go into his tabernacles; worship at his footstool. Rise Jehovah to thy rest and the ark of thy strength,,—thy priests, thy saints; 10 David and the Messiah; 11-18 Jehovah's oath to David—and rich promises.

Psalm 133

A Song of degrees of David.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there Jehovah commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

133:1 Brotherly unity, 2 its beauty, 3 its blessedness.

Psalm 134

A Song of degrees.

Behold, bless ye Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, which by night stand in the house of Jehovah.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless Jehovah.

Jehovah that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

134:1, 2 Bless Jehovah ye who stand by night in his house; 3 be thou blessed out of Zion by him, Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 135

Hallelu-Jah. Praise ye the name of Jehovah; praise him, O ye servants of Jehovah.

Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our Elohim,

Hallelu-Jah; for Jehovah is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

For I know that Jehovah is great, and that our Lord [Adonim] is above all gods [or, elohim].

Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.

Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;

Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:

And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth forever; and thy memorial, O Jehovah, throughout all generations.

For Jehovah will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;

They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

Bless Jehovah, O house of Israel: bless Jehovah, O house of Aaron:

Bless Jehovah, O house of Levi: ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah.

Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Hallelu-Jah.

Jehovah in contrast with Idols.

135:1 Hallelu-Jah. Praise Jehovah's name, ye his servants, 2 in the house, in the courts of the house-3, as good, 4 chooser for himself of Jacob and Israel; as 5 great, 6 doer everywhere of his will, 7 in the air, 8, 9 in judging Egypt, 10-12 and great nations (goïm); 13 enduring in name and memorial, 14 judge of his own people; 15-18 the vanity of idols and their makers; 19, 20 house of Israel, of Aaron, of Levi, ye fearers of Jehovah bless him, 21 out of Zion, dweller in Jerusalem, may he be praised.

Psalm 136

O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.

O give thanks unto the Elohim of gods [or, elohim]: for his mercy endureth forever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords [Adonim of adonim] for his mercy endureth forever.

To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth forever:

The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth forever:

The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him that smote Egypt in their first-born: for his mercy endureth forever:

And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth forever:

With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth forever:

And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth forever:

But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea for his mercy endureth forever.

To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth forever.

To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth forever:

And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth forever:

Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth forever:

And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth forever:

And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth forever:

Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth forever.

Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth forever:

And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth forever.

Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth forever.

O give thanks unto the El of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever.

136:1 Thanks to Jehovah, 2 and to Elohim, for his mercy forever,3 to the Lord of lords, 4 doer of wonders, 5-9 wise and powerful in creation, 10-15 and in redemption out of Egypt, 16 through the wilderness; 17-22 into the land; 23, 24 raiser up of the weak, 25 sustainer, 26 the El of heaven for his mercy forever.

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing Jehovah's song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Remember, O Jehovah, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it,even to the foundation thereof.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon we wept for Zion, 5, 6 Jerusalem our chief joy; 7 Jehovah, remember Edom's desire to rase it; 8, 9 happy the instrument of Jehovah's judgment on Babylon.

Psalm 138

A Psalm of David.

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods [or, Elohim] will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, 0 Jehovah, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of Jehovah: for great is the glory of Jehovah.

Though Jehovah be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Jehovah, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

138:1, 2 I will praise thee, before the gods, toward thy temple for kindness and truth and thy word, magnified above all thy name; 3 I was heard; 4, 5 all kings shall praise thee, 6 Jehovah is high, yet he respects the lowly and looks at the proud afar off; 7 he delivers me and will perfect all for me.

Psalm 139

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand lo shall hold me.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

For thou hast possessed my reins thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made is in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O El! how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O Eloah: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

Search me, O El, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Man put into God's presence, unable to stand before or to avoid himp-good and evil known—the soul cast on him.

139:1 Thou hast searched and known me, 2-12 the process in detail, 13-16 how wondrous my frame! 17, 18 precious thy thoughts! 19, 20 thou wilt slay the wicked, 21, 22 I hate them; 23, 24 search one, try me, lead me.

Psalm 14

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no Elohim. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek Elohim.

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon Jehovah.

There were they in great fear: for Elohim is- in the generation of the righteous.

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because Jehovah is his refuge.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when Jehovah bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

14:1 The fool and the apostate people; 2-4 Jehovah looked down from heaven-his estimate of them, and, 5, 6 faith; 7 hope.

Psalm 140

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;

Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.

They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.

Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man;

who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside;

they have set gins for me. Selah.

I said unto Jehovah, Thou art my El: hear the voice of my supplications, O Jehovah.

O Elohim Adonay, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

Grant not, O Jehovah, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.

As for the head of those that compass me about; let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast to into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

140:1 Save me, from the evil man, &c., 2-5 described; 6, 7 thou art my hearer and shelter; 8-11 imprecation; 12, 13 Jehovah is for the poor and the upright.

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.

But mine eyes are unto thee, O Elohim Adonay: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.

Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

141:1, 2 Hear, Jehovah, my cry, 3 keep my lips, 4 my heart from the wicked; 5, 6 let the righteous smite me, I pray for them, in their trouble; 7 we are broken to pieces, 8 I trust in thee, 9 keep me from the wicked, 10 judge them whilst I escape.

Psalm 142

Maschil [or, giving instruction] of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.

I cried unto Jehovah with my voice; with my voice unto Jehovah did I make my supplication.

I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me.

I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

I cried unto thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.

Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I.

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

142:1-5 Retrospect; when all failed me I looked to Jehovah, 6, 7 and I count upon him.

Psalm 143

A Psalm of David.

Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.

Hear me speedily, O Jehovah: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Deliver me, O Jehovah, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.

Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my Elohim: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Quicken me, O Jehovah, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

143:1 Hear and answer me, 2 bring me not into judgment, 3-11 amid sorrows, needs, fears, my heart is on thee, who art about my path; 12 imprecation.

Psalm 144

A Psalm of David.

Blessed be Jehovah my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.

Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.

Bow thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will sing a new song unto thee, O Elohim: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.

Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:

That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:

That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:

That our oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, is happy is that people, whose Elohim is Jehovah.

144:1, 2 Blessed be Jehovah my strength and refuge; 3, 4 the littleness of man! 5-8 Come down and save me from the stranger and the wicked. 9, 10 I will sing a new song, he is the deliverer of David from the sword; 11 rid me, &c., that, 12-14 we may have earthly blessings, 15 and blessedness.

Psalm 145

David's Psalm of praise.

I will extol thee, my Elohim, 0 king; and I will bless thy name forever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name forever and ever.

Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. Jehovah is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Jehovah is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

All thy works shall praise thee, O Jehovah; and thy to saints shall bless thee.

They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. Jehovah upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

Jehovah is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

Jehovah is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Ile will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Jehovah preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

My mouth shall speak the praise of Jehovah: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

" A dialog between Messiah and those blessed for the Millennial earth." (If so, vers. 3, 8 and 9, 14, 17-20, may be announcements through Messiah, and the responses from the mouths of his people in that day).

145:1, 2 I will extol thee, O Elohim, King; I will bless thee forever; 3 the excellency of Jehovah; 4 thy works and acts, One generation to another shall set forth, 5 thy majesty and wonders I, 6, 7, they, &c.; 8, 9, Jehovah's character, 10 his works and saints, 11-13 his kingdom. 14 He is the upholder of the weak, the restorer, 15, 16 provider for all; 17-20 righteous in all his ways, he hears and answers prayer: preserves those that love him, but destroys the wicked. 21 My mouth and all flesh to praise him.

Psalm 146

146-150 are Hallelujah Psalms.

Book V. No. 40. Psa. 146

Hallelu-Jah. Praise, Jehovah, O my soul.

While I live will I praise Jehovah: I will sing praises unto my Elohim while I have any being.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Happy is he that hath the El of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his Elohim:

Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth forever:

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. Jehovah looseth the prisoners:

Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind: Jehovah raiseth them that are bowed down: Jehovah loveth the righteous:

Jehovah preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

Jehovah shall reign forever, even thy Elohim, O Zion, unto all generations. Hallelu-Jah.

Description of the character in which he will deal with Israel.

146: Praise ye Jah. My soul praise Jehovah; 2 Yea, while I have being; 3, 4 caution against trust in man; 5-10 happy he whose help and hope is in the Elohim of Jacob. His excellencies. He will reign forever.

Psalm 147

Hallelu-Jah: for it is good to sing praises unto our Elohim; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

Great is our Lord [Adonim], and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Jehovah lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our Elohim:

Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.

Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem; praise thy Elohim, O Zion.

For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he bath blessed thy children within thee.

He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his is word runneth very swiftly.

He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?

He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Hallelujah.

Praise for blessings distinctive of Israel.

147:1 Praise ye Jah our Elohim; it is pleasant; 2 Jehovah builds Jerusalem, gathers the outcasts of Israel, 3 heals the broken hearted and their wounds, 4 counts the stars; 5 great is our Adonim; 6 Jehovah lifts up the meek, casts down the wicked, 7 praise him; 8, 9 his work in providence, 10, 11 taking pleasure (not in brute force but) in those that fear him; 12-14 Jerusalem and Zion, praise him for what he hath done for thee; 15-18 his acts abroad, 19, 20 those distinctive to Jacob and Israel,—to whom alone he has shown his word, statutes and judgments.

Psalm 148

Hallelu-Jah. Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for he commanded, and they were created.

He hath also stablished them forever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

Praise Jehovah from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven..

He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Hallelu-Jah.

148:1, 2 Praise ye Jah. Praise Jehovah from and in the heavens, all ye various companies of his; 3-6 Praise him, ye sun, &c., 7-10 all things from the earth, 11 powers on earth, 12 all men; 13 the alone excellent, also 14 the exalter of Israel.

Psalm 149

Hallelu-Jah. Sing unto Jehovah a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.

For Jehovah taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud s upon their beds.

Let the high praises of El be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Hallelu-Jah.

149:1 Praise ye Jah. Praise Jehovah in the congregation of Israel; 2 let Israel rejoice in his maker, Zion in their king, 3 with dance and music, 4 for Jehovah takes pleasure in them; 5, 6 let them joy; 6½-9 invested with retributive power against the heathen. Praise ye Jah.

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.

In whose eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoureth them that fear Jehovah. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

15:1. Jehovah, who shall dwell with thee? 2- 5 eleven excellencies, such as do these, shall never be moved.

Psalm 150

Hallelu-Jah. Praise El in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let everything that hath breath praise Jah. Hallelu-Jah.

Everything that has breath to praise.

150:1, Praise ye Jah and El in his sanctuary; 2 what for, 3-5 how, 6 who to praise Jehovah. Hallelu-Jah.

END OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS.

Psalm 16

Michtam [A Golden Psalm] of David.

Preserve me, O El: for in thee do I put my trust.

O my soul, thou hast said unto Jehovah, Thou art Adonay: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I

not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

I have set Jehovah always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are

pleasures for evermore.

16:1 Preserve me, El, for I trust in thee. 2, 3 Thou hast said to Jehovah, " Thou art Adonay: my goodness extends not to thee;" [Thou hast said to saints on earth and to the excellent, "In them is all my delight;" 4, woe to those who seek after another; 5-11 what Jehovah is to me [the speaker].

16.-Messiah first brought in as a man down here,-pleads his trust, ver. 1; the end of it fullness of joy in heaven, ver. 11; and,

17.- He pleads his righteousness, ver. 1; the end, ver. 15, satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps, slip not.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O El: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

Show thy marvelous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O Jehovah, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

From men which are thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

17:1-2 Cry on the ground of "the right;" 3 his integrity was proven; 4 his use of the word; 5—-7 dependence; 8-12 El his refuge from the wicked, &c.; 13 faith an Jehovah; 14 estimate of man; 15 I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

Psalm 18

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spake unto Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,

I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my El, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and cried unto my Elohim: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

Jehovah also thundered in the heavens, and Gnelion gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke O Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but Jehovah was my stay.

He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my Elohim.

For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle: Jehovah my Elohim will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my Elohim have I leaped over a wall.

As for El, his way is perfect: the word of Jehovah is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is Eloah save Jehovah? or who is a rock save our Elohim?

It is El that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Thou hast also given me thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the Elohim of my salvation be exalted.

It is El that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou

hast delivered me from the violent man.

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and showeth so mercy to his Messiah, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

From Egypt till the display of the Royalty of Messiah-the suffering Messiah alone the counsel and way of God. Compare Gen. 3:15.

18:1-3 Praise and trust; 4-35 depths of suffering; 36-48 his taking the kingdom; 49, 50 praise.

The king: his retrospect of triumph over every difficulty of circumstance; whether as to the kingdom itself in principle and formation, or as to his getting up into the throne. 2 Sam. 22, but before he got to 2 Sam. 23, note how faith can use Elohim for victory over circumstances; but we have to learn that He is above us and uses circumstances for us, that he may use us for Himself.

Psalm 19

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of El; and the firmament showeth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of Jehovah is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much ]o fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my strength, and my redeemer.

19.-Creation and law; 1-6 El's works in creation his witness; 7-14 Jehovah's law [query " doctrine," in the larger sense, for the word means that too] his, in saving.

19-21.-Testimonies.

Psalm 2

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his Messiah, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: Adonay shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: Jehovah hath said unto me,

Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine

inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye to judges of the earth.

Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

2:1-3 Challenge to the earth in rebellion against Jehovah and his Messiah; 4, 5 he that dwells in heaven laughs, Adonay derides, &c.; 6 he dwelling in heaven announces: I have set my king on Zion; 7-9 one replies in subjection, as to himself; Jehovah has said to me, Thou art my Son, &c.; and 10-12 sets himself as a fear and a shelter for man.

NOTE.-" The Son" (bar), ver. 12, is the same person as is called "Son" (ben), ver. 7.

Psalm 20

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Jehovah hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the Elohim of Jacob defend thee;

Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;

Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.

Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel.

We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our Elohim we will set up our banners: Jehovah fulfill all thy petitions.

Now know I that Jehovah saveth his Messiah; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of Jehovah our Elohim. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

Save, Jehovah: let the king hear us when we call.

Messiah seen in His trouble.

20:1-4 Faith's appeal to Jehovah Elohim, of Jacob for One, in, whom (v. 5) is salvation and headship,,and 6-8 power, from Jehovah, over all-the Messiah; 9 Save, Jehovah; let the king hear us.

Psalm 21

To the chief Musician, A Psalm. of David.

The king shall joy in thy strength, O Jehovah; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips; Selah.

For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days forever and ever.

His glory is great in thy salvation: honor and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

For thou hast made him most blessed forever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

For the king trusteth in Jehovah, and through the mercy of Gnelion he shall not be moved.

Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: Jehovah shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.

Be thou exalted, Jehovah, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

21.-The heavenly side, as 45. the side for earth: both about the king.

21.-Answer to 20. (Part 1 addressed to Jehovah.) 1-7 joy of the faithful in what the king is, and (Part 2) 8-12 in what thou, the king, wilt do in judgment on men thy enemies; 13 our joy.

Psalm 22

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar [or, hind of the morning], A Psalm of David.

My El, my El, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

O my Elohim, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

He trusted on Jehovah that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my El from my mother's belly.

Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my Jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

But be not thou far from me, O Jehovah: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise Jehovah that seek him: your heart shall live forever.

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto Jehovah: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

For the kingdom is Jehovah's: and he is the governor among the nations.

All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to Adonay as for a generation.

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

His sufferings as forsaken of El: the result being grace and glory to man.

This is a portion to be much mused and fed upon.

22:1-21 humiliation; 22-31 the fruit of it in resurrection going on into the Millennial Kingdom.

Note.-On his lip, El, El, ver. 1 and 10; on the adversaries, Jehovah, ver. 8 and once on his (ver. 19): that in suffering; it glory Jehovah ver. 23 and 26 and 27 and 28, Adonay, ver. 30.

Some would divide this Psalm in the middle of ver. 21, though the stress was laid upon " thou hast heard me"; and not rather, upon "from the horns of the unicorns."

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of Jehovah forever.

23-Messiah's path as a man on earth; but also faith's in the last day, after atonement is known. ("Restore," ver. 3, means refresh, revive in spirit.)

Psalm 24

A Psalm of David.

The earth is Jehovah's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of Jehovah? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from Jehovah, and righteousness from the Elohim of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

24.-Messiah (he is Jehovah) and a remnant entering glory hereafter.

Psalm 25

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.

O my Elohim, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Show me thy ways, 0 Jehovah; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the

Elohim of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O Jehovah, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Jehovah.

Good and upright is Jehovah: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

All the paths of Jehovah are mercy and truth unto to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For thy name's sake, O Jehovah, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

What man is he that feareth Jehovah? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

The secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

Mine eyes are ever toward Jehovah; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

Redeem Israel, O Elohim, out of all his troubles.

25:4-10 Full confession of sin by the faithful; faith's cry to Jehovah in thought of him and his ways and covenant; 1 conscious of integrity and trust in him, it acts in spite of, 2 enemies, 3 of transgressors; 7, 8, 11,18, &c., transgression confessed; 22. Elohim to redeem Israel out of all his troubles.

25 to39. thoughts and feelings of the faithful, relationship known.

Psalm 26

A Psalm of David.

Judge me, O Jehovah; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in Jehovah; therefore I shall not slide.

Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah:

That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Jehovah, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth.

Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:

In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless Jehovah.

26:1 All is open to Jehovah, 6 righteous integrity is the pathway to the altar, 7, 8 to praise; and 9-12 to strength in hope.

Psalm 27

A Psalm of David.

Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

One thing have I desired of Jehovah, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in his temple.

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his a pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto Jehovah.

Hear, O Jehovah, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O Elohim of my salvation.

When my father and my mother forsake me, then Jehovah will take me up.

Teach me thy way, O Jehovah, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living.

Wait on Jehovah: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on Jehovah.

27:1 Fear excluded from the soul by joy in Jehovah as light, salvation, and strength; 2, 3 a past deliverance the basis of hope. He was desired and sought, and 4 his house as beautiful, 5 himself a refuge and 6 an exalter and joy; 7-9 appeal of faith in communion; 10,11, in hope; 12 before enemies near; 13What if I had not had him! 14 Girding up.

Psalm 28

A Psalm of David.

Unto thee will I cry, O Jehovah my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.

Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.

Give them according to their deeds; and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.

Because they regard not the works of Jehovah, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.

Blessed be Jehovah, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

Jehovah is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Jehovah is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his Messiah.

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever.

28:1, 2 Cry-for manifest recognition, and 3-5 for exemption from the judgment on the "wicked; 6-9 joy in Jehovah as hearing and saving his people.

Psalm 29

A Psalm of David.

Give unto Jehovah, O ye mighty, give unto Jehovah glory and strength.

Give unto Jehovah the glory due unto his name; worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness.

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters: the El of glory thundereth: Jehovah is upon many waters. The voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is full of majesty.

The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; yea, Jehovah breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

The voice of Jehovah divideth the flames of fire.

The voice of Jehovah shaketh the wilderness; Jehovah shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

Jehovah sitteth upon the flood; yea, Jehovah sitteth King forever.

Jehovah will give strength unto his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace.

29:1, 2 Call to praise Jehovah; 3-9 his voice working in providence, and 9 in his people in his temple, 10 on the flood King; 11 he is theirs.

Psalm 3

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

JEHOVAH, how are they increased that trouble me I many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in Elohim: Selah.

But thou, O Jehovah, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto Jehovah with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for Jehovah sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Jehovah; save me, O my Elohim: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto Jehovah: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

3.-A morning anticipation; 1, 2 many troubles, but 3 Jehovah is for me, 4, 5 he was, so, 6, 7 he will be; 8 deliverance is of him.;

3-8. Faith in individuals (or in a company of such) here below-a standard of walk having been raised before them (Psa. 1), and (Psa. 2) Messiah known as exalted, though earth-rejected-is learning what its own place is amid failure and trials down here but in dependence upon Jehovah.

Psalm 30

A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.

I will extol thee, O Jehovah; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.

O Jehovah my Elohim, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

Sing unto Jehovah, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

Jehovah, by thy favor thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

I cried to thee, O Jehovah; and unto Jehovah I made supplication.

What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Hear, O Jehovah, and have mercy upon me: Jehovah, be thou my helper.

Thou hast, turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Jehovah my Elohim, I will give thanks unto thee forever.

30:1-3 I praise Jehovah for deliverance; 4, 5 saints to praise; 6-11 a deliverance, to the end that 12 I might praise him.

Psalm 31

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

In thee, O Jehovah, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.

Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.

For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah El of truth.

I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in Jehovah.

I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;

And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; thou hast set my feet in a large room.

Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.

For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.

For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah: I said, Thou art my Elohim.

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.

Let me not be ashamed, 0 Jehovah; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.

Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

Blessed be Jehovah: for he bath skewed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.

For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.

O love Jehovah, all ye his saints for Jehovah preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in Jehovah.

31:1-3 Cry to Jehovah for help; 4 from the net; 5 into thine hand I commit my spirit, &c.; 6-13 conflict; 14-16 trust; 17-22 Jehovah for me and the faithful, against the wicked; 23, 24 comfort for his people.

Psalm 32

A Psalm of David, Maschil [or, giving instruction].

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in Jehovah, mercy shall compass him about.

Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

32 (Part 1) 1, 2 forgiveness; (Part 2) 3, 4 conflict till self is given up; 5 confession, 6 to Jehovah's praise. 7 Thou my joy and blesser. (Part 3) 8, 9 He teaches; 10, 11 faith's words.

Psalm 33

Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.

Praise Jehovah with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.

Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.

For the word of Jehovah is right; and all his works are done in truth.

He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of Jehovah.

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear Jehovah: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

The counsel of Jehovah standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose Elohim is Jehovah; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance

Jehovah looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men.

From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.

He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all to their works.

There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waiteth for Jehovah: he is our help and our Sc shield.

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

Let thy mercy, O Jehovah, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

33:1-3 Be glad in Jehovah, ye upright and righteous; 4-7 his word, works, acts; 8, 9 earth and inhabitants to join; 10 goim (peoples) and ammim (nations) fall before him; 11 his counsels stand; 12 blessed that (goi) people and that (amm) nation which he has chosen for himself; 13-15 from heaven he sees all men, &e.; 16-19 no deliverer but he; 20-22 on him we wait.

Psalm 34

A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.

I will bless Jehovah at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in Jehovah: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

O magnify Jehovah with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I sought Jehovah, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

O taste and see that Jehovah is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

O fear Jehovah, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of Jehovah.

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of Jehovah are upon the righteous, and his is ears are open unto their cry.

The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and Jehovah heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but Jehovah delivereth him out of them all.

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

34:1, 2 I joy in Jehovah to the joy of the humble; 3, call to join; (v. 4) 1, (v. 5) they, (v. 6) this one, they called and (v. 7) were helped; 8, calls saints (v. 9) to fear and learn about him, 10-22, as being for the believer and against the wicked.

Psalm 35

A Psalm of David.

Plead my cause, O Jehovah, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.

Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of Jehovah chase them.

Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of Jehovah persecute them.

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.

And my soul shall be joyful in Jehovah: it shall rejoice in his salvation.

All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.

They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:

With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

Adonay, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.

This thou hast seen, 0 Jehovah: keep not silence: 0 Adonay, be not far from me.

Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my Elohim and Adonay.

Judge me, O Jehovah my Elohim, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.

Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me.

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let Jehovah be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

35:1-3 Cry for help against adversaries; 3½-8 for a word of comfort and for confusion on those causelessly against me; 9, 10 so shall I be glad; 11-16 false witnesses and requiting evil for good with hypocritical workers. 17, 18 Cry for help, and 19-26 righteous judgment, 27 and 28 let friends rejoice with me and praise.

Psalm 36

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of Jehovah.

The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of Elohim before his eyes.

For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. Thy mercy, O Jehovah, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Jehovah, thou preservest man and beast.

How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O Elohim! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.

For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

36:1 -4 Faith's estimate of the transgression of the wicked, 5-9 of that which is in Jehovah; 10 prayer.

Psalm 37

A Psalm of David.

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Trust in Jehovah, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in Jehovah; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto Jehovah; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass..

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon Jehovah, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: lo yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

Adonay shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is coming.

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but Jehovah upholdeth the righteous.

Jehovah knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be forever.

They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth.

For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

The steps of a good man are ordered by Jehovah: and he delighteth in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for Jehovah upholdeth him with his hand.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

For Jehovah loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.

The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

The law of his Elohim is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

Wait on Jehovah, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

And Jehovah shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

37:1, 2 Heading. Faith knows the way of peace in an evil day, 3-40 Jehovah's knowing his own and his hatred of evil are rest and blessing to those that walk near him. Them will he uphold.

37,38 and 39. Sore chastening under the dealings of Jehovah has to be passed through.

Psalm 38

A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.

I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

Adonay, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.

My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

For in thee, 0 Jehovah, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Adonay my Elohim.

For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.

For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Forsake me not, O Jehovah: O my Elohim, be not far from me.

Make haste to help me, O Adonay my salvation.

38:1-8 Groans under the flood of judgment from Jehovah; 9, 10 his inward parts open to Adonay; 11-22 hear and help or I am lost.

Psalm 39

To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

Jehovah, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.

Surely every man walketh in a vain skew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

And now, Adonay, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.

I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.

Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by lo the blow of thine hand.

When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a

moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.

Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.

39:1-6 Writhes but seeks instruction from Jehovah; 7-13 seeks aid from Adonay and Jehovah.

Psalm 4

To the chief Musician on Neginoth [or, stringed instruments, see Hab. 3:19], A Psalm of David.

Hear me when I call, O Elohim of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

But know that Jehovah hath set apart him that is godly for himself: Jehovah will hear when I call unto him.

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in Jehovah.

There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Jehovah, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us,.

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Jehovah, only makest me dwell in safety.

4:1 Evening cry to Elohim, hope sustained by past favor; 2-5 warning; 6, 7 hope and joy in Jehovah; 8 repose for might.

Psalm 40

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

I waited patiently for Jehovah; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our Elohim: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Jehovah.

Blessed is that man that maketh Jehovah his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Many, O Jehovah my Elohim, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

I delight to do thy will, O my Elohim: yea, thy law is within my heart.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Jehovah,

thou knowest.

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Jehovah: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver me: O Jehovah, make haste to help me.

Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven

backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, Jehovah be magnified.

But I am poor and needy; yet Adonay thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my Elohim.

The foundation: Messiah has undertaken to do the will of God; He goes patiently through it.

40:1 I waited on Jehovah. He gave me to praise, to (v. 3) his honor among men; 4 blessed is he that trusts and keeps himself from evil, 5 wonderful the works and thoughts of Jehovah toward us; 6-10 Messiah's work and mark, 11-13 prayers, 14, 15 imprecation on enemies; 16 Jehovah's people prayed for, 17 poor, yet he is my stay.

Psalm 41

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: Jehovah will deliver him in time of trouble.

Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

Jehovah will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.

I said, Jehovah, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.

All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, bath lifted up his heel

against me.

But thou, O Jehovah, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me..

And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever.

Blessed be Jehovah Elohim of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.

The blessedness of him who understands the poor and needy (sheep).

41.-The poor man's place; 1-3 He that acts according to the mind and way of Jehovah to the weak, Jehovah will do likewise to him; 4 Cry for mercy for sin; 5-9 the adversary's taunts, etc. 10 Mercy! that I may requite; 11, 12 joy for help from Jehovah. 13 Praise.

Psalm 42

(*Second Book (Ps. 42-72) The faithful are seen as driven out; and, unless viewed as in their future, God, not Jehovah (his covenant name) is referred to. (Comp. Ps. 53 and 14).

Peter's position with a remnant, both outcast for the Lord's sake and having to solace themselves with the future, may help us here. 2 Peter.)

BOOK II.* No. 1. Psa. 42 To the chief Musician, Maschil for, giving instruction], for the sons of Korab.

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O Elohim.

My soul thirsteth for Elohim, for the living El: when shall I come and appear before Elohim.

My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy Elohim?

When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of Elohim, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in Elohim: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

0 my Elohim, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.

Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.

Yet Jehovah will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the El of my life.

I will say unto El my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy Elohim?

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in Elohim for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my Elohim.

42:1, 2 Yearns for Elohim amid 3 taunters, 4 anguish, 5-7, 8, 11 hope in him; 6 in the land of Jordan and the Hermonites, and amid depths of judgment and taunts 9, 10.

Psalm 43

Judge me, O Elohim, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

For thou art the Elohim of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

Then will I go unto the altar of Elohim, unto El my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O Elohim my Elohim.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in Elohim: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my Elohim.

43:1 Cry to Elohim for judgment against a nation not in grace (the Jews), and the wicked man; 2-4 Thou and thy places are my all, 5 I hope in thee.

Psalm 44

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Maschil [or, giving-instruction].

We have heard with our ears, O Elohim, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.

For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but, thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favor unto them.

Thou art my King, O Elohim: command deliverances for Jacob.

Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.

For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

In Elohim we boast all the day long, and praise thy name forever.

But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.

Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.

Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.

Present Testimony: Volume N2, 1869-1870

Table of Contents

The Atonement

David's Piety and the Mind of God

Faith in God and His Word, Not in the Church

Fragment

Galatians

Guidance for Today

Hebrew Synonyms

Life, Light, and Love

New Series

Noah, a Type of Christ

Postscript

Psalm 1

Psalm 10

Psalm 100

Psalm 101

Psalm 102

Psalm 103

Psalm 104

Psalm 105

Psalm 106

Psalm 107

Psalm 108

Psalm 109

Psalm 11

Psalm 110

Psalm 111

Psalm 112

Psalm 113

Psalm 114

Psalm 115

Psalm 116

Psalm 117

Psalm 118

Psalm 119

Psalm 12

Psalm 120

Psalm 121

Psalm 122

Psalm 123

Psalm 124

Psalm 125

Psalm 126

Psalm 127

Psalm 128

Psalm 129

Psalm 13

Psalm 130

Psalm 131

Psalm 132

Psalm 133

Psalm 134

Psalm 135

Psalm 136

Psalm 137

Psalm 138

Psalm 139

Psalm 14

Psalm 140

Psalm 141

Psalm 142

Psalm 143

Psalm 144

Psalm 145

Psalm 146

Psalm 147

Psalm 148

Psalm 149

Psalm 15

Psalm 150

Psalm 16

Psalm 17

Psalm 18

Psalm 19

Psalm 2

Psalm 20

Psalm 21

Psalm 22

Psalm 23