"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, Whose Name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Therefore, "when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I Jehovah will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." For "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 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 shew them His Covenant."3 Hence our Lord Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens." "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."4 And we know that none are blessed, but those who are interested in the Divine Covenant of grace of whom it is said, "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." 'Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness apart from " xwpis," "works," i.e., to be done or performed by himself.

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6

"The broken-hearted," i.e., those, who have been "convinced of sin" by God the Holy Ghost; and who have had their hearts "broken" by the "hammer" of God's holy "Word." O, "make me," say these, "to have joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may

1 Isaiah lvii. 15.
4 Mat. v. 3, 5.
7 John xvi. 8, 9.

2 Isaiah xli. 17.

5 Psalm xxxii. 1, 2.
8 Jer. xxiii. 29.

3 Psalm xxv. 8-14.
6 Rom. iv. 6.

rejoice." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." Why? Because it is His Spirit's doing: and the work of His hands despiseth He not. Hence it is said, “Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." "He healeth the broken in heart, and,” as Jesus is here said to do, "He bindeth up their wounds."4"Bless Jehovah," then, "O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases."5

"Captives." We read of some, who were in “the snare of the devil," and were "taken captive by him at his will: "6 but these were near of kin to those, who "turned aside after Satan; " and who, being still "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity," were in a willing bondage: but such are not the persons spoken of in the text. No: the persons here mentioned, having been quickened by God the Holy Ghost, have realized the awful bondage of their natural state, and groaning under it, are longing intensely for deliverance from it. They have now feelingly experienced, that "whosoever committeth sin is the slave," doûλòs, “of sin; and they have "seen another law in their members, warring against the law of their minds, and bringing them into captivity to the law of sin which is in their members:" which makes them cry out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"10 They have now become conscious also of the existence and presence of the "strong man armed," who once " kept his palace," and "his goods in peace "_" the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now energizeth," èvepуoûvтos, " in the children of disobedience: among whom also" they "all" had their "conversation in times past: "12 but now his service is hateful to them and they are yearning for deliverance from his power;

1 Psalm li. 8, 17. Psalm xxxiv. 18. 2 Tim. ii. 26. John viii. 34. "Eph. ii. 2, 3.

66

Job x. 3; xiv. 15; Psalm

Psalm cxlvii. 3.

71 Tim. v. 15.
10 Rom. vii. 23, 24.

cxxxviii. 8; Isaiah lxiv. 8.

5 Psalm ciii. 2, 3.

s Acts viii. 23.

11 Luke xi. 21.

crying out in their hearts, for "the God of peace" to "bruise Satan under their feet shortly."

Ah! there is a wonderful difference between conviction of sin under the law, where the conscience only is touched, and conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost, where the heart is wounded by "the sword of the Spirit:" for a "prick” in the heart is mortal.2 A man may indeed be fearfully convicted of sin in conscience under the law, and be in great horror of mind in consequence; but if he be not quickened by the Holy Ghost, all this will come to nought: for his natural heart still loving his sin, when his terror passes away, he will return to it; as the Apostle tells us. "For if they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."3 The "true proverb," which the Apostle quotes, says that the person here spoken of is "a fool," or unconverted person. As a fool, therefore, for a time he left his sin, because it troubled his conscience, not because he hated it; and "as a fool," or unconverted person, he "returned to it," after such trouble had been removed.

Very different, however, is it with the persons mentioned in the text for they have been "convinced of sin," by the Holy Ghost which our old Divines call "a saving conviction," to distinguish it from the other-not that they meant that it was saving in itself, but that it was one of the "things that accompanied salvation:" for such as these are "exhorted to be confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." In due time, therefore, our blessed Lord

1 Rom. xvi. 20. John xvi. 9, 10.

2 Acts ii. 37.

32 Peter ii. 20-22. 4 Prov. xxvi. 11. 6 Heb. vi. 9. 7 Phil. i. 6.

Jesus will, as He here promises, "proclaim liberty to" these captives:" and then, "if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!""

Ann Dutton has some remarks on this subject, in one of her beautiful letters, which are very much to the point, and which I am tempted therefore to transcribe. Writing to a quickened soul, she says, "And now methinks I hear thee say, 'All this I am convinced of; but I greatly want to know whether I am one of those who are new born.' There are two ways whereby a soul comes to know that it is new-born. The first is by revelation of the Spirit bearing witness to the soul in some word or other where this truth is declared. The second is by enabling the soul to discern its own acts in Divine light, and to draw conclusions from its discerned acts of grace that it has the principle; and in both these ways the Lord can give thee satisfaction in an instant if it pleaseth Him. But, generally speaking, it is some time ere a child of God can draw steady conclusions of its being new-born from its own feelings of the new life; and therefore thou mayest be new-born though thou dost not know it.

"A living infant, you know, when first born into the world hath life, but it does not know it. It had a secret life from its first quickening in the womb, and from thence a secret motion; but as soon as it is born it begins to live visibly to others, but yet the child itself knows nothing of the matter. It cries, desires the breast, tastes the milk, and is satisfied, sees the light and feels the heat with pleasure, all of which are visible demonstrations of its life to bystanders, but the child knows nothing of it, because it is not capable of self-reflection. And thus it is with a new-born soul; there is a secret work of God upon all the heart, a principle of life given, and from thence some secret motions and faint stirrings now and then, under begun convictions, before it is brought forth into the visible life of grace, which discovers itself as soon as ever the soul is born again, in the breath or cry of the new creature, its desires, its discernings, and its

1 John viii. 36.

enjoyments, which, when communicated to grown Christians, they know such a soul is one of Christ's new-born babes, although this child itself is not yet capable so to reflect upon its own acts as to conclude its life from thence."

And then, after going more particularly into detail, in considering what a living child sees, desires, and enjoys; and comparing these with the effects of the operations of the Spirit of God upon a saved soul, she rightly concludes, that "there never was a soul in the world that is thus wrought upon but is a vessel of mercy prepared unto glory, by a saving work of the Holy Ghost upon it, as well as in the purposes of God concerning it."1

"Bound and in prison." As I have said so much under the last head, I shall be brief under this; and would merely note, that as Luke here reads "bruised," our thoughts are naturally directed to Isaiah i. 4, 5, where the prophet, in describing our state by nature, says, that "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." "Wounds" come from an enemy-our "ghostly enemy" and "adversary" the devil. "Bruises" come from falls-constant fallings into sin. "Putrifying sores," from the corruption of the blood itself. And so, when 'God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God; " the Divine verdict was, "Everyone of them is gone back they are altogether become filthy" (Hebrew stinking); "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." of this sad and melancholy state of things, these poor souls have been deeply convinced in their very heart of hearts; and their cry now is, "Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low deliver me from my persecutors; for

Now

"Selections from Letters on Spiritual subjects addressed to relatives and friends," by Mrs. Ann Dutton, compiled by James Knight. London: John Gadsby, 18, Bouverie St., pp. 4, 5.

2 Psalm liii. 2,

3.