experienced his merciful nature and disposition expressed in that name, will take no unlawful methods to escape affliction, nor "put their trust" in any but him for deliverance; since it is a most undoubted truth -and oh, what a comfortable truth-that thou, Lord Jesus, hast not forsaken, nor ever wilt finally forsake them that sincerely and diligently, with their whole heart, seek to thee for help; as a child, upon apprehension of danger, flies to the arms of its tender and indulgent parent.-BP.HORNE.

MATTHEW HENRY has a remark on this passage, that "God never did, and never will, disown or desert any that seek to him and trust in him. Though he afflict them, he doth not leave them, he doth not leave them comfortless: though he seem to forsake them for a while, yet he will gather them with everlasting mercies.”

PSALM XVI. 4.-Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god.

This all ungodly men do when they are

afflicted: they run to other imaginary helps of their own, and they prove but the multipliers of sorrows, and add to their torment. They are miserable or troublesome comforters; like unskilful physicians, that add to the patient's pain by nauseous, ill-chosen, and, it may be, pernicious drugs.—ABP. LEIGHTON.

This God is the God we adore,

Our faithful, unchangeable Friend,
Whose love is as large as his power,
And neither knows measure nor end:

"Tis Jesus, the first and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide me safe home;

I'll praise him for all that is past,

And trust him for all that's to come.-HART.

PSALM Xxiii. 4.-Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Not only the supporting staff, but the correcting rod shall comfort, if God command it to be a comforter. Who would not maintain communion with this God, who can make a comfort of any thing, who can answer every

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cross with a comfort? If we have a thousand crosses, God hath ten thousand comforts: he can multiply comforts faster than the world can multiply crosses.-CARYL.

Though Heaven afflicts, I'll not repine,
Each heartfelt comfort still is mine;
Comforts that shall o'er death prevail,
And journey with me through the vale.
Dear Jesus, smooth that rugged way,
And lead me to the realms of day,
To milder skies and lighter plains,
Where everlasting sunshine reigns.-COTTON.

PSALM XXV. 18.-Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

When at any time we are in trouble, we should be more concerned about our sins, to get them pardoned, than about our afflictions, to get them removed.-M. HENRY.

O Thou, from whom all goodness flows,
I lift my heart to thee;

In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,
Dear Lord, remember me!

When, groaning, on my burden'd heart

My sins lie heavily,

My pardon speak, new peace impart,
In love, remember me!

Temptations sore obstruct my way,
And ills I cannot flee;

Oh! give me strength, Lord, as my day,
For good remember me!

Distrest with pain, disease, and grief,

This feeble body see,

Grant patience, rest, and kind relief;

Hear, and remember me.-DR. Haweis.

PSALM XXX. 2.-O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

In every age, Jehovah has been known as the healer of his people; and, both in mental and bodily maladies, they have sought and found his aid. What an advantage would it be to human beings, were they as sensitively conscious of the diseases of the soul, as they are of the afflictions of the perishable body! Then how precious would be the name of Him, who is emphatically the Physician of souls! How blessed is he who can appeal to Jehovah, as his God, and say, from the deeply cherished experience of his heart, "Thou hast healed me !"-DR. MORISON.

Amidst these various scenes of ills,
Each stroke some kind design fulfils ;
And shall I murmur at my God,

When sovereign love directs the rod?

Peace, rebel thoughts!-I'll not complain;
My Father's smiles suspend my pain;
Smiles, that a thousand joys impart,
And pour the balm that heals the smart.

COTTON.

Psalm xxx. 5.—Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Many a good man hath carried his afflictions with him to the grave. Scripture speaks of that which is often experienced, but not always. It is most true, also, that our weeping is but for a night, yea, but for a moment, as the apostle speaks, 2 Cor. iv. 17, compared with that morning of joy when the day of our blessed eternity shall begin. The psalm hath this scope, chiefly to show the troubles of the saints are not everlasting, not that they are never lasting; or, to show that the night of weeping shall at last conclude in a morning of joy to the godly, not that their night of