hymns are sung in honor of our great Redeemer. He is that Arm and Right Hand of Jehovah' which hath 'done valiantly,' which hath crushed our strongest enemy, and is very highly 'exalted' over all. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power; thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.' Exod. xv. 6.

17. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.' 18. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.’

As Christ is risen, we shall not die, but live;' we shall not die eternally, but we shall live, in this world, the life of grace; in the world to come, the life of glory; that we may, in both, declare the works' and chant the praises of God our Saviour. We are chastened' for our sins, but not given over to death' and destruction everlasting; nay, our being chastened' is now a proof that we are not so given over;' for 'what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?' Heb. xii. 7.

19. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go in to them, and I will praise the LORD: 20. This gate,' or This is the gate, of the LORD, 'into which the righteous shall enter." 21. I will thank thee, for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.'

The faithful, like David and his people of old, demand admission into the courts of the Lord's house, there to praise him for his great and manifold mercies. But we may extend our ideas much farther, and consider the whole company of the redeemed, as beholding the angels ready to unbar the gates of heaven, and throw open the doors of the eternal sanctuary, for the true disciples of the risen and glorified Jesus to enter in. Open ye,' may believers exclaim in triumph to those celestial spirits, who delight to minister to the heirs of salvation, open ye the gates of righteousness,' those gates, through which nothing unclean can pass, that the righteous nation, which keepeth the truth, may enter in,' Isa. xxvi. 2. and sing, with your harmonious choirs, the praises of him who sitteth on the throne; for he hath overcome the sharpness of death, he hath opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. THIS is the gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter,' to take possession of

the inheritance prepared for them, to thank him who hath heard them, and is become their salvation.'

6

22. The stone which the builders refused, is become the head stone of the corner.' 23. ، This is the LorD's

doing, it is marvellous in our eyes.'

Whether this passage had first a reference to the case of David,' who, as a figure of Messiah, was brought from a state of rejection and persecution to the throne of Israel; or whether there be any truth in a Jewish tradition concerning a certain stone, which, after having been, by the builders of the second temple, thrown aside among the rubbish, was at last found to be exactly fitted for the honorable place of a chief corner-stone; it is neither possible nor needful to ascertain. That the verses belong, in a full proper sense, to Messiah, is confessed by the Rabbis, and acknowleged by all. No text in the Old Testament is quoted by the writers of the New, so often as this, which we meet with in six different places; namely, Matt. xxi. 42. Mark xii. 10. Luke xx. 17. Acts iv. 11. Ephes. ii. 20. 1 Pet. ii. 4. The sum and substance of the New Testament applications and expositions is, that Jesus Christ is the stone here mentioned; that he was rejected and set at nought by the chief priests and Pharisees, the then builders of the church; but that, being chosen of God, and precious to him, this most valuable stone, thus despised and rejected of men, thus thrown among the rubbish, and buried in it, was, at length, from such a state, exalted to be the chief corner-stone in the building, the main support of the edifice, and a centre of union for Jew and Gentile, the two parts of which it consisted; that this was the work of God, and the admiration of man. And what can be more truly marvellous, than that a person, put to death as a malefactor, and laid in the grave, should from thence arise immortal, and become the head of an immortal society; should ascend into heaven, be invested

1 David a Saule et aliquandiu a decem tribubus reprobatus, ac soli tribui Judæ agnitus, deinde omnium princeps; et sub figura ejus Christus a Judæis ac Gentibus impetitus, mox utrorumque caput, ut ipse interpretatur, Matt, xxi. 42. BossUET,

Div..

No. XXIV.

R

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 prim arily 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 fre quently 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.

with power, and crowned with glory; and should prepare a way for the sons of Adam to follow him into those mansions of eternal bliss?

24. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.'

Of the day on which Christ arose from the dead, it may, with more propriety than of any other day, be affirmed, 'This is the day which Jehovah hath made.' Then it was, that the rejected stone' became the 'head of the corner. A morning then dawned which is to be followed by no evening; a brighter sun arose on the world, which is to set no more; a day began, which will never end; and night and darkness departed, to return not again. For thus saith the Lord to his church by the prophet Isaiah, Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended:' Isa. Ix. 20. Easter-day is in a peculiar manner consecrated to him, who, by his resurrection, triumphed over death and hell. On that day, through faith, we triumph with him; we 'rejoice and are glad in his salvation.'

25. 'Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.' 26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of,' or you that are of, 'the house of the LORD.'

As a prelude to the triumphant manner in which Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, should ascend to the heavenly Jerusalem, he entered the earthly city, before his passion, amidst the acclamations of the multitude, who hailed him as King of Sion, and with palm branches, the emblems of victory, in their hands, sung before him these words, partly taken from our Psalm, Hosanna to the Son of David: blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.' The word 'Hosanna,' is in the original, n'win, Save now!' The form of words, used by the people was both a petition and a congratulation; as if they had said, Let us beseech Jehovah, in the language of the 118th Psalm, to grant salvation to the Son of David, and to send us now prosperity under him: Blessed is he who thus cometh, not in his own name