The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9. 10. The chorus is repeated.

We must now form to ourselves an idea of the Lord of Glory, after his resurrection from the dead, making his entry into the eternal temple in heaven, as of old, by the symbol of his presence, he took possession of that figurative and temporary structure which once stood upon the hill of Sion. We are to conceive him gradually rising, from mount Olivet, into the air, taking the clouds for his chariot, and ascending up on high; while some of the angels, like the Levites in procession, attendant on the triumphant Messiah in the day of his power, demand that those everlasting gates and doors, hitherto shut and barred against the race of Adam, should be thrown open, for his admission into the realms of bliss. Lift up your heads, Oye gates; and be ye "lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory "shall come in," On hearing this voice of jubilee and exultation from the earth, the abode of misery and sorrow, the rest of the angels, astonished at the thought of a man claiming a right of entrace into their happy regions, ask from within, like the Levites in the temple, "Who is this King of Glory?" To which question the attendant angels answer, in a strain of joy and triumph-and let the church of the redeemed answer with them-" The LORD strong "and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle:" the LORD JESUS, Victorious over sin, death, and hell. Therefore we say, and with holy transport we repeat it," Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory

“shall come in." And if any ask," Who is the

King of Glory? to heaven and earth we proclaim aloud" The LORD of Hosts;" all-conquering. MESSIAH, Head over every creature, the Leader of the armies of JEHOVAH," He is the King of Glory." Even so, Glory be to thee, O Lord most High! Amen. Hallelujah.

V.

ARGUMENT.

It is much the same, whether we suppose the church, or any single member thereof, to be speaking throughout this Psalm, and praying, 1-3. for help and protection against spiritual enemies; 4, 5. for knowledge and direction in the way of godliness; pleading for this purpose, 6, 7. God's mercies of old; 8. the perfections of his nature; 9, 10. enumerating the qualifications requisite for scholars in the divine shool; 11. upon the strength of these arguments, enforcing the petition for mercy; 12-14. describing the blessedness of the man who feareth the Lord; 15-31. preferring divers petitions; and 22. closing the whole with one for the final redemption of the Israel of God.

1. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. 2. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Cares and pleasures are the weights which press

J

the soul down to earth, and fasten her thereto and it is the spirit of prayer, which must enable her to throw off these weights, to break these cords, and to "lift up" herself to heaven. He who trusteth" in any thing, but in God, will one day be

and confounded, and give his spiritual cause "to triumph over him."

ashamed" enemies”

3. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed that transgress without a cause, or, vainly, rashly.

God, as a father and a master, will never suffer his children and servants to want his favour and protection; nor will he permit malicious rebels to enjoy it. Honour will, in the end, be the portion of the former, and shame the inheritance of the latter."

4. Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me ; for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

We are travellers to heaven, who, through temptation, are often drawn aside, and lose our way. The way is the law of God; and, to keep that law, is to walk in the way. God only can put us in the way, and preserve and forward us therein; for which purpose, we must continue instant in prayer to "the "God of our salvation," that he would "teach" us to Do his. will; that so we may not be ashamed and confounded.

6. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies, and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

The soul, when hard beset with sins and sorrows,

is apt to think that God hath forsaken and forgotten her. In this case, she cannot more effectually prevail upon him, or comfort herself, than by recollecting, and, as it were, reminding him of former mercies; since, however the dispositions and affections of men may alter, God is always the same.

7. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.

When God remembers his mercy, he forgets our sins; and when he forgets our sins, he remembers his mercy; for what else is his mercy, but the forgiveness, the blotting-out, the non-imputation of sin? Who that has lived long in the world, can survey the time past of his life, without breaking forth into this petition, adding, to " the sins of his youth," the many transgressions of his riper years?..

1.8. Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

Another argument for hope and trust in God, is drawn from his nature. He hates sin, and loves righteousness; he sent his Son to suffer for the one, and his Spirit to produce the other; and he cannot but be faithful and just to his own gracious promises, which all centre in the salvation of sinners by pardon and grace, through Him who is "the way, the truth, "and the life."

9. The meek will he guide in judgement and the meek will he teach his way.

Pride and anger have no place in the school of Christ. The Master himself is "meek and lowly of "heart;" much more, surely, ought the scholars to

be so. He who hath no sense of his ignorance, can have no desire or capability of knowledge, human or divine.

10. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

The law of God is the way by which he cometh to us, as well as that by which we go to him; and all the different dispensations of that law, here styled the " paths of the Lord," are composed of "mercy and "truth;" mercy promising, and truth performing, meet together in Christ, who is, "the end of the law "to every one that believeth;" to such as "keep his "covenant and his testimonies.

11. For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

The pardon of sin is to be asked, and obtained, through that gracious "name," in which " mercy and "truth are met together; and so "great" is our sin, that pardon can be had only through that name.

12. What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

The blessings consequent upon the fear of the "Lord" are such as will fully justify the earnestness and fervour of the foregoing petitions for pardon and grace. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning "of wisdom." He who hath it, will "choose" the right way, and will be taught" to go therein.

13. His soul shall dwell at ease, Heb. lodge in goodness and his seed shall inherit the earth. It is a privilege of "the man who feareth the Lord," that, not only in this present life, all things