PSALM XXIII.

Thanksgivings rendered by a saint to God, for having turned him from the ways of sin, and called him to a knowledge of the truth; with a comparison of his present with his former situation.

VERSES 1, 2. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

MOST glorious God! Thou art the only father and the true shepherd of our souls. I was for a long time a wandering sheep; I listened not to thy voice, although thou didst not cease to call upon me,-to speak to my heart. The world spake louder than thou; it spake to my senses, and mine cars were open only to its voice. It fascinated mine eyes, and made thy pastures appear to me unpleasant, dry, and covered with briers and thorns; while, on the contrary, it represented its own as places sowni with flowers, where pleasures would continually spring up around my steps. Yet I found I wandered there in dryness and want; under those deceitful flowers I found, at every step, a serpent whose cruel bite incessantly annoyed me; the pleasures which offered themselves to me, instead of satisfying me, only excited my thirst for new pleasures; the passions which successively sprung up in my heart were so many tyrants which, each in its turn, destroyed my peace. I sought continually for something to satisfy me, and relieve me from my inquietude; and when I flattered myself I had found it, in a moment after I perceived my error; I then changed the object, but my secret uneasiness still remained, and nothing filled the void in my heart. But, O my adorable shepherd! since I have quitted those miserable and poisonous pastures, and returned into thy fold, how different is my situation! Tranquil under thy

guidance, free from those distressing cares and agitations which always attend sinful passions, my heart is in its place; nothing more is wanted by it, and it has no desires but to follow thee, and to serve thee with more love and fidelity. What delight, what abundant consolation, may we not find in thy pastures, and in the ways in which thou leadest thy sheep? The pleasures there experienced are not like the pleasures of the world which, from being long enjoyed, become insipid; the more they are tasted, the more delicious they are found to be; the more thou art followed, the more does a desire of following thee increase. The world promises pleasures, and gives nothing but crosses and chagrin; thou, O Lord, hast told us that crosses await us, in thy service, and yet these crosses are the sources of ineffable consolation.

VERSES 2, 3.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

THE world led me to empoisoned waters, to satisfy my sinful thirst for pleasures; but the more I drank of them, the more severe my thirst became. They were like burning coals applied to my heart; and the more I sought to cool and refresh myself, the more did I find myself inflamed. But the water with. which thou, O my God, hast quenched my thirst, is that water which springeth up to everlasting life; those who once drink of it will no more thirst for the world nor its pleasures. One single drop of that celestial water refreshes and comforts the heart more than all the rivers of Babylon; it is a clear and peaceful stream which carries with it no dirt nor pollution; whilst the water of Babylon is but a stream polluted: with mud; and like a furious torrent, it hurries along all those who stoop to drink of it into the gulf of destruction. O most merciful God! thou hast saved me from this ruin; thou hast reached forth a

hand to pluck me from the midst of those waters, which were upon the point of swallowing me up; and my soul knew not the danger which threatened until after thy mercy delivered it from impending destruction.

VERSE 8.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

SUFFER me, O most gracious God! here to review, as in thy presence, thy mercies towards me. It was not enough to pluck me from the gulf when I was about to sink; thou continuest to uphold me, and thou teachest me the pathway of life. Until men are brought to know and love the truth, they are continually exposed to many evils; in escaping from one worldly danger, they often fall into a greater danger ; they wander from their ways, but do not enter, as they ought to do, into thy ways; and even thy servants sometimes step aside from the right path, and aim to go to thee by bye-paths, different from those by which thou wouldst lead them. But, O God, thou leadest me in the paths of righteousness; thou hast taught me that to attend to the duties of my station and situation in life is the only way of safety; that in discharging them with faithfulness I should fulfil all righteousness; that works seemingly holy, when incompatible with those duties, are not acceptable to thee; that it is an illusion to prefer what a false zeal may recommend to what thou plainly requirest; and that thy will is clearly pointed out in the duties which thou hast connected with my particular station, whilst in all pretended religious services which prevent my discharging those duties, I have nothing clear and sure to guide me,-nothing but my own will. Thou hast taught me this, O my God, of thy free grace and mercy; and as thy gifts never come single, as thou continuest to give to those to whom

thou hast begun to give, thy servants may safely confide in thee to guide their feet in the ways of peace.

VERSE 4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with

me:

AFTER all the dangers from which thou hast saved me, O divine shepherd of my soul! what can I fear as long as I walk in thy ways? Though thou shouldst leave me, for a season, in that state of dryness and darkness in which the most faithful souls are sometimes left, the very hand which would smite me would also encourage me. I should know, O my God, that it is thou who createst, as thou pleasest, light or darkness,-thou who manifestest thyself to the soul, with every thing which thy presence has in it consoling, or who hidest thyself from our eyes under a thick cloud, to prove our faith; I should always perceive thee within me operating these consolations or these troubles, and my confidence in thee would always be the same. Though darkness might seem to proclaim that thou forsakest the soul, and givest it up to the shadows of death and sin, and though it might deprive me of lively consolation, yet it would not shake my faith, because I should know that thou art ever with me.

VERSE 4.

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

O MY adorable shepherd! The wolf often enters into thy pastures, there to seek his prey; but thy rod and staff are sufficient to defend us, and put him to flight. There is nothing to be feared but by those imprudent sheep who separate from the flock, and choose to wander in paths which thou hast not pointed out. Even thy servants, O divine Saviour! from the remains of corruption that are still in them, someᏃ

times grow faint and weary, but thou wilt not suffer any to perish whom the father has given to thee; thy power sustains and supports them; thou takest them in thine arms when they are upon the point of falling, and unable to continue their course. It is not thou that failest them; thy help is always ready; it is their unfaithfulness alone which puts this help at a distance, or renders it useless to them. I have experienced this many times; my languor and weariness in thy service have always originated in my own unfaithfulness. In proportion as I have sought consolation from sensible objects, or from any thing in myself, thou hast withdrawn from me the comforts of thy grace. Thy ways, O God, are not in themselves hard and painful; all the inconveniences we suffer in walking in them arise from ourselves; we carry into them all the briers and thorns which annoy us.

VERSE 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies :

THIS world, O merciful Father! is an accursed land, fruitful in sorrow and distress, and furnishing no remedies for the evils it produces. Its pleasures, having become insipid, from that satiety and disgust to which they always lead when long pursued, cannot console the worldling who endures grief and bitterness in his heart, in consequence of his losses and afflictions. Whatever speaks to the senses only can give no comfort to the soul, under the evils and inquietudes which the sinner suffers. Though surrounded with external sources of consolation, he finds that these do not penetrate the surface, and that the sting still remains within. The world is an ungrateful and deceitful master, which smiles at our misfortunes, and which, while pretending to solace us under them, seeks only to aggravate them, and to seduce us by its false promises.