2. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

The glory of every action is to be ascribed to God, whose interpositions, in behalf of his people of old time, afford consolation and joy to the humble and afflicted. But chiefly are the members of the church bound to give thanks for the resurrection and triumph of Christ, their head. The humble' can never 'hear' of this, without being 'glad.'

3. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

The Christian, not only himself magnifies God, but exhorts others to do likewise; and longs for that day to come, when all nations and languages, laying aside their contentions and animosities, their prejudices and their errors, their unbelief, their heresies, and their schisms, shall make their sound to be heard as one, in magnifying and exalting their great Redeemer's name.

4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

The ground of this rejoicing, to the typical David, might be his deliverance from his enemies; to the true David, it was his rescue from the powers of darkness; to the believing soul, it is her salvation from sin; and to the body, it will be redemption from the grave. Then the Lord will deliver us from all our fears; and this he will do, if we 'seek' him, in his Scriptures, and his ordinances.

5. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

Faith is the eye, sin the blindless, and Christ the

light of the soul. The blindness must be removed, and the eye must be directed to the light, which will then illuminate the whole man, and guide him in the way of salvation. He who thus looketh unto the Sun of Righteousness, for light and direction, shall never be confounded.

6. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of his troubles.

David, when he escaped from his enemies, might be 'poor' and destitute. But he was emphatically ' the poor man,' who became so for our sakes; who not only possessed nothing, but desired nothing in this world. He cried, and Jehovah heard him, and delivered him out of all his troubles;' as he will bear and deliver the poor in spirit,' who pray unto him. For,

7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

The divine protection and salvation, vouchsafed to the faithful, is here signified, whether we suppose that by the angel of Jehovah,' is meant the presence of Christ in the church militant, as of old in the camp of Israel; or the ministration of created spirits to the heirs of salvation, as in the case of Elisha: 2 Kings, vi. 17. Let the consideration of these invisible guardians, who are also spectators of our actions, at once restrain us from evil, and incite us to good.

8. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

David saw and tasted the goodness of Jehovah, when delivered from his adversaries: the Son of

David when raised from the dead. Both invite us, by trusting' in God, to behold and experience, in our own persons, the mercies and consolations of heaven.

9. O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

He who seeketh the Lord shall find him ; and he who hath found Him can want nothing. Faith, hope, charity, temperance, purity, patience, and contentment, are the true riches; and the lack of them, the poverty to be most dreaded; since to a Christian, persecution, loss, sickness, nay, death itself, is gain. In the meantime, God is never wanting to provide for his servants what he seeth needful and best, in matters temporal; while tyrants and oppressors, who are, in the world, what lions' are in a forest, are often, by the just judgment of heaven, reduced to want that which they have ravished from others.

11. Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

They who, by contemplating the advantages described above, which attend the fear of the Lord, are become desirous of obtaining that fear, must hearken to their heavenly Father, who by his prophet speaketh unto them as unto children,' offering to teach them the good and right way.

12. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Every Christian professeth to desire,' not only

an animal, but a spiritual life;' to love, not an old age in time, but an eternal duration; that he may see those good things' which God hath prepared, not upon earth, but in heaven, for them that love him. Let us observe, therefore, upon what terms such blessings are offered.

13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

The tongue is an instrument of much good, or much evil. Life and death are in its power; he that keepeth it, keepeth his soul; and he who offendeth not therewith is a perfect man: it is an unruly member, and the first work of the fear of God must be to bridle it, that no profane, unclean, slanderous, deceitful, or idle words, proceed out of the mouth. And as heart is to the tongue what the fountain is to the stream, that must be first purified.

14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Not the tongue only, but the whole man is to be corrected and regulated by the fear of God operating unto repentance from dead works, and, through faith, unto obedience of life. And he who hath thus obtained peace with God, must ever remember to follow peace with men, reconciling his brethren, if at variance; himself, if it be possible, being at variance with no one.

15. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

The righteous may be afflicted, like David, and

like a greater than David; and their oppressors may, for a time be triumphant; but, in the end, the former will be delivered and exalted; the latter will either cease to be remembered, or they will be remembered with infamy.

17. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

This great and comforting truth is attested by the history of the deliverances of Israel from Egypt, Babylon, &c.; of Jonah from the whale; of the three children from the flames, &c. wrought at the supplications of the respective parties in distress; but above all, by the salvation of the world, through the intercession of Jesus Christ. The death of martyrs is their deliverance; and the greatest of all deliverances.

18. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

We are apt to overlook men in proportion as they are humbled beneath us; God regards them in that proportion. Vessels of honour are made of that clay, which is broken' into the smallest parts.

19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

Afflictions all must suffer; but those of the righteous end in victory and glory. What soldier would not cheerfully undergo the hardships of a campaign upon this condition? In the world,' saith the Captain of our salvation, ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' John xvi. 33.