say,) the dictates of our own reason, but our great seeking and endeavouring are to be,-how we may be kept from obeying these, and how we may be led and guided by the dictates and will of God.

And hence, nothing more pestilential and destructive can be taught and delivered to a Christian man, than moral philosophy and the decrees of men; if they be so set before him as to make him believe, that he can walk in and by them so as to please God. For by such a kind of instruction, it will come to pass, that he, relying on this wisdom, will judge, condemn, and persecute whatever he sees to make against him, and will thereby reject the cross of Christ, and utterly despise the way of God; which then is in its best and most prosperous state, when we are living without our own guidance and wisdom, and are following, as through a desert and a wilderness, Christ in a pillar of fire. This is loving, not vanity, but that which is solid and substantial, and seeking, not lies, but the truth. But all these things are better felt by experience in the time of suffering and adversity, than they can possibly be described in words, or imagined by the heart: for there must, as we have said, be an experience of these things, to understand the words of God: these things must not only be spoken of and known, but be experienced in the life, and felt. Hence David saith, Psalm cxvi. 11, "I said in the excess of my feeling, all men are liars." Why does he call them liars? Because, being in the extreme of suffering, and living by faith alone in God, and being stripped of all confidence in created things, in which he sees all men immersed and overwhelmed, he with certainty pronounces all their affections and thoughts to be vain, and all their counsels and pursuits to be lies, because they are destitute of faith in God: and if they are without faith in God, then they are without the Word of God: and if they are without the Word of God, then they are without the truth. And thus, all things are vain and lies which are without faith: for faith is truth, on account of the Word of truth in which it believes, and to which it cleaves by believing.

Thus, then, we have the true sense and meaning of this verse,—that all are ungodly idolaters and polluters of the glory of God, who, under any tribulation, draw back from faith, hope, and love, to a confidence and comfort in created things, and protect and direct themselves by those means.

And, concerning the small word "Sela" we have already said enough. It seems to be put here also for the purpose of denoting a particular feeling of the mind. And truly it is a matter to be wondered at, above all things, that the whole human race are so immersed and implicated in depraved affections and opinions, that they love vanity and seek after lying: and so awfully so, that the matter, from the greatness and extent of it, cannot be sufficiently set before us, and impressed upon our minds.

Ver. 3.-And know that the Lord hath made his saint to be wondered at [or a wonder:] the Lord will hear me when I call unto him.

A most wholesome instruction! For the reason why the sons of men dread the cross, which is the way of truth and of that which is substantial, and rather choose to follow after vanity and lying, and to trust in created things, is this; they are in ignorance of God; (as the apostle saith, 1 Cor. xv. "For some have not the knowledge of God;") they know not, I say, what God is doing, what he intends, nor what his thoughts are, when he tries us by tribulations: for they judge like a horse or a mule, according to that which is before their eyes, and is seen and felt. And in such cases, nothing appears to view but shame, want, death, and all those things which are shown to us in the sufferings of Christ. And if thou view those things only, and do not acknowledge the divine will in them, and endure and praise that will, thou must of necessity be offended at the cross, and flee to thine own counsel and wisdom; and thus presently become an idolater, and give unto the creature that glory which is due unto God only.

When Christ, John xvi. 3, showed the reason why

the Jews should persecute the apostles, and turn them out of the synagogue; he said, "These things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me." But how was it that they did not know, who had held such great contentions with Christ about God? To know Christ, is to know the cross, and to understand God in the midst of the crucifixion of the flesh : this is the design of God, this is the will of God, yea, this is God. And therefore, their hating and persecuting the cross, and the Word of the cross, as being contrary to their affections and opinions, which were vanity and lies, are the cause of their not knowing God, or, (which is the same thing,) of their not knowing the will of God.

And so also, when he said, John vi. 53, "Except ye eat my flesh, and drink my blood, ye have no life in you" it was to them "a hard saying;" and many of his disciples being offended, from that time forward walked no more with him. And why was it "a hard saying?" Because, to eat the flesh of Christ, and to drink his blood, is to be incorporated into Christ by faith, and to have fellowship with him in his sufferings. But this, depraved human affection, and the heart that is corrupted by perverse opinions, abhor above all things.

And this is what David alludes to, when he says, Fear not; nor think that ye are perishing, if your own affections and senses are destroyed, and if all that ye suffer seems contrary to your own opinions. But be ye wise, and know the Lord, and understand his will, and turn away your eyes that they behold not vanity: for the Lord is wonderful in his saints. His work upon them is one thing in appearance, but quite a different thing in reality. He seems to kill, but in reality makes alive he wounds, but in reality heals: he confounds, but at that very time in reality glorifies: he bringeth down to the grave, but at that very time rather brings up from the grave. And all his works are in this way, concerning which we have said much in that which precedes.

What then is more wonderful than this divine will?

It dwelleth indeed on high, and yet hath respect unto low things. It makes men fools, that they may become wise it makes them weak, that they may become strong. But it is the former of these works that appears and is felt the latter thou wilt never arrive at the understanding of, unless thou have faith. Thus Peter saith, that the prophets foretold, first, of the sufferings of Christ, and then of the glories that should follow, 1 Epist. i. 11. Therefore, we stand in need of admonition and exhortation, that we may be raised up unto the knowing and acknowledging of God in cases of this kind. "Know, (saith David,) that he hath made his saint to be a wonder." As though he had said, Why are ye thus tossed to and fro? Why seek ye comfort and counsel from this quarter and from that? Why do ye love this and that consolation? Vain are all such things. They are not only vain, so as not to be able to afford you any help; but they are lies also, and miserably deceive you. "Know ye,” and be assured, hear ye and believe, that it is an immutably fixed decree, that, whoever will be a saint of God, whoever will obtain his grace, and be acceptable and well pleasing unto him, must so suffer, that God shall be wonderful in him! And thus wonderful he cannot be, if the counsel or consolation of yourself, or of any other creature, can help you. For all such things as are not above and beyond your own ability and comprehension, are not wonderful at all. But when ye shall be brought to despair in yourselves, and in every other created thing, and shall commit and commend your cause to the will of God only: then, behold, your righteousness shall break forth as the light; and then shall God bring forth your judgment as the noon-day, Psalm xxxvii. 6, in a manner and at a time wholly unthought of either by yourselves or any other creature.

The word "saint" in this passage is, in the Hebrew, HASID; because, he is properly a saint who has obtained mercy; and who, as we term it, is justified by grace. And we are to receive the expression here as distributive, and as containing a definite number for an indefinite" Know ye that the Lord hath made his saint

wonderful;" that is, his saints. Which is the same as if he had said, Know ye that the Lord wonderfully works in, and rules the man, whom he justifies and makes a partaker of grace. And from this learn, that he who will please God, must (as I before said) know what this good, and acceptable, and perfect counsel and will of the Lord, are? For Paul saith, Rom. xii. 2, that this “will” never can be proved, unless ye be "transformed by the renewing of your mind;" whereby God always destroys our own affections and our own opinion.

Then follows, "The Lord will hear me," &c. Here again he teaches the weak both by word and by example. For he might have referred this to the saint, whom he before said was made a wonder; and have said, The Lord will hear him when he calls unto him. Or, he might have made the former part of the verse accord with the latter, and have said, Know ye that the Lord hath made me a wonder. But, as I have said, these sudden changes of the persons, set forth the wonderful varieties and changes in the feelings and affections: we are therefore to consider the person of the prophet accordingly, and see how concerned he is for the sons of men in all this variety; addressing the saints at one time as in a body collected together, at another as mingled among sinners, that he might thereby gain all. "The Lord (saith he) hath made his saint a wonder:" and, (he would add,) if this will not move you, I tell you that "the Lord will hear me," who also am one of the saints; that is, one of those who have obtained his grace.

And behold the Psalmist's affection and state of mind here. He persuades the sons of men to endure the hand of God; but as that matter is done, and stands, in faith, he cannot show what nor how it is: for God, as I said, does not appear. And therefore, he does the utmost that he can do, and all that lies within his power: he promises them the help of God. As if he had said, I can do this, and this is the only thing that I have it in my power to do for your consolation: I can with confidence promise you that you will be heard. Therefore, trust with firmness; love not vanity, nor turn the glory