and power, but in the name and power of Jehovah, according to the prophecies concerning him, to deliver us from all our enemies: ratify, O Jehovah, in the highest, or in heaven, these petitions which we make for the salvation and prosperity of our King, that thy blessings on him and us may be established on earth. Since the resurrection of our Lord, the faithful have expressed, in these two verses, the same wishes and prayers for the increase of his kingdom, and the prosperity of his house and family, of his ministers and his people: We bless you that are of the house of Jehovah.'

27. God is the LORD, which hath showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.'

As Jehovah hath manifested his power and glory, by raising Christ from the dead; as he hath, by so doing, showed us the light' of life and immortality; let us observe the festival, which is designed to perpetuate the memory of so great and joyful an event. "Christ, our passover,' saith an apostle, 'is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast:' 1 Cor. v. 7. Let us keep it, only changing legal for evangelical sacraments and ceremonies; let us go to the altar, not to see a figure of the Lamb of God, as he was to be slain; but to behold a representation of him as he hath been slain; to behold, in figure, his body broken, and his blood poured out; to eat the bread of life, and drink the cup of salvation.

28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.' 29. O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.'

The Prophet declareth his resolution to 'praise' and to 'exalt,' to magnify and to glorify, his God;' he then concludes, as he began, with exhorting all the world to do the same. Preserve to us, blessed Lord, the use of these divine hymns in thy church, until, at the resurrection of the just, we shall celebrate an Easter in heaven, and sing them new in the kingdom of God,

TWENTY-FOURTH DAY.-EVENING PRAYER.

PSALM CXIX.

ARGUMENT.

[This Psalm is divided (most probably for the advantage of memory) according to the number of letters which compose the Hebrew Alphabet, into twenty-two portions, of eight verses each; and not only every portion, but every verse of that portion, begins with the letter appropriated to it. David must, undoubtedly, have been the author. He describeth, in a series of devotional meditations, the instruction and the comfort which, through all vicissitudes of mind and fortune, he had ever found in the word of God. The many strong expressions of love towards the law, and the repeated resolutions and vows to observe it, will often force us to turn our thoughts to the true David, whose 'meat and drink it was, to do the will of him that sent him.' The passages more especially characteristic of him, as well as those which allude primarily to any particular circumstances in the history of the patriarch David, are pointed out in the course of the comment. But the chief design through the whole hath been, to draw forth the lessons of heavenly wisdom and comfort, contained in this interesting composition, for the service of believers, who, while they are accomplishing their pilgrimage and warfare on earth, should continually solace themselves with the 119th Psalm, and repair to it as to a fountain, which can never be exhausted. Between the verses of each portion, a connexion is frequently to be traced; but it doth not often seem to extend from one portion to another. The many words employed to express the revelations of God's will have distinct significations, denoting different parts or portions of the Scriptures, which it hath sometimes been found of great use to take into consideration, while at others the terms appear to be used promiscuously, in a general sense, and for the sake of variety.]

ALEPH.-PART I.

1. 'Blessed are the undefiled,' Heb. perfect, or sincere, ' in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.'

By sin, misery entered into the world; holiness alone, therefore, can lead us to happiness. The law of Jehovah' is the path of life, and by walking in the way' we shall attain to the end. But, alas! we are out of the way; we have walked in the law of sin, after the lusts of the flesh; who will direct and strengthen us to walk in the law of God, after the desire of the Spirit? We are fallen from our integrity; who will raise us again? The Gospel, which was preached to Abraham before the Mosaic dispensation, and which was prefigured and believed under it, returneth us, to all these questions, answers of peace. The Redeemer hath prevailed for the pardon of our errors; the Reedemer hath raised us from our fallen state; he hath reconducted us to the path of life; in his name we arise and walk; he maketh us righteous, and, consequently, he maketh us blessed.' For, Blessed are the sincere in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah.'

2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart.'

The divine revelations and institutions, whether of the old or the new law, are called God's 'testimonies;' they are the witnesses of his will, and the pledges of his love. They are committed to the church, as a precious deposit, or trust, to be by her children kept,' and observed. In and by these God is to be sought; they that seek him with their whole heart,' with ardent and undivided affection, fail not to find him, as an instructor and a comforter; and they who find him, find all things, and are 'blessed' indeed.

3. They also that do no iniquity, they that walk in his ways.'

O blissful state of those, who are redeemed from the earth, and all earthly desires; who are delivered from the dominion of sin; who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth,' and, like Zacharias and Elizabeth, walk in the statutes and ordinances of the Lord blamelsss:' Luke i. 6. Enrol us, O Lord, in the happy number of these thy servants; pardon our offences; give us a new nature, and new desires, averse from sin, and inclined to sanctity: and guard us, that the wicked one touch us not.

4. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.'

He who made us, and redeemed us, hath a double right to our service. We are not our own, having been bought with the blood of our Lord; his will, therefore, and not our own, is to be done by us. And his will is, that we should keep his precepts diligently,' because in 'keeping' them, and in keeping them diligently,' so as not to halt between God and the world, but to serve one master only, doth our happiness consist. Now, when the commands of our Superior, and our greatest Benefac tor, of our Friend, our Father, and our God, coincide with our own interests, temporal and eternal, what pretext can there be for disobedience and rebellion?

5. O that my ways were directed,' or prepared and established,' to keep thy statutes!"

The faithful soul, enraptured with the contemplation of that blessedness which is the consequence of serving God, but conscious, at the same time, of an inability to attain it, sighs after the refreshing and strengthening influences of divine grace. She beholdeth her Saviour afar off; she beholdeth the beauty and glorious majesty of his hea venly kingdom; she beholdeth the way which leads to it; but she hath not power to walk therein. This consideration caused her to groan earnestly within herself, and at length to breathe forth a wish that the Spirit of truth and love would fix and establish her in a holy course of thinking, speaking, and acting, on all occasions, and would prevent her from turning aside out of it, to the right hand or to the left.

6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.'

All the commandments have the same author, and the same sanction. He who thinketh to atone for the breach of one, by the observation of another; he who reserveth to himself a licence of indulging any favorite, darling lust, while, in general, he preserveth the appearance of an exemplary conduct, is a hypocrite, and, unless he repent, will be brought to 'shame,' if not before men here, yet before men and angels hereafter. Shame' is the fruit of sin; confidence is the effect of righteousness,

Wherefore, in all our proceedings, let us have respect,' not to the opinions of men, to the corrupt customs of the world, or to the deceitful suggestions of our own hearts, but to the commandments, to all the commandments of God;' let us, as St. John exhorteth, abide in Christ;' that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.' 1 John ii. 28. 7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.'

Confidence in God will always be productive of joy, and undissembled 'praise' will accompany true conversion. The Scriptures are styled God's righteous judgments,' as containing an account of his decrees and determinations concerning us, with a history of cases and precedents, entered on record for our admonition. these we are to form our opinions, and to regulate our conduct. And when we shall have so 'learned' these, as to walk according to them, we shall praise God with an upright heart;' our tongues will utter what our hearts feel.

By

8. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not-utterly.'

The result of our meditations on God's word, and on the advantages of studying, in order to observe its directions, should always be a resolution so to do, and a prayer for grace to execute that resolution. Lord, we will keep thy statutes;' for love can do all things, when thou hast shed it abroad in our hearts. 'Love worketh no ill; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law,' Rom. xiii. 10.;

and mercy will accept what grace enableth us to perform.

Be thou, therefore, ever with us, and 'forsake us not;' or if, at any time, to try our faith, and to exercise our patience, thou shouldest depart from us and leave us to ourselves for a time, short be thy absence, and speedy thy return: O forsake us not utterly!'

BETH.-PART II.

9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.'

Youth enters on the journey of life, headstrong and