doth not await the hand of the gatherer, but "wi"thereth" even "before it is plucked up." And then, fo thin, fo wretched, and fo unprofitable is the crop, that none are employed to collect and carry it in; none to whom paffengers might addrefs thofe acclamations and falutations, cuftomary at fuch times, as "The LORD be with you, blefs you," &c. Ruth ii. 4. Thus, while the felicity of Zion's children is rooted and grounded in Chrift, that of her enemies hath no foundation at all. While the church fubfifteth from generation to generation, the kingdoms and empires, that have perfecuted her, fade and wither away of themselves. And at the general harvest of the world, when the righteous fhall be carried by angels, with joyful acclamations, into the mansions prepared for them above, the wicked, unregarded by the heavenly reapers, and unbleffed by all, fhall become fuel for a fire, that goeth not out; refembling, in this their fad end, likewife, that worthlefs grafs, "which to-day is, and to-morrow is caft into the !! oven.

PSALM CXXX.

ARGUMENT.

This is the fixth of those which are ftyled Penitential Pfalms. It is calculated for the use of the church, or any member thereof; and containeth 1, 2. a complaint of great diftrefs; 3. a confefsion of man's finfulness; 4-8. an act of faith in the divine mercy, and the promised redemption.

1. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 2. LORD, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my fupplications.

From the depths of fin, and the mifery occafioned by fin, the penitent, like another Jonas, intombed in the whale's belly, and furrounded by all the waves of the ocean, crieth unto God for help and falvation. Fervent prayer will find it's way, through every obftruction, to the ears of him who fitteth upon his holy hill. And may not the bodies of the faithful, buried in the duft, be faid to cry, out of the depths of the grave, for a joyful refurrection, according to the promise and the pattern of Chrift, who, after three days, came forth from the heart of the earth, as Jonas did from the belly of the whale?

3. If thou, LORD, Shouldeft mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall ftand?

A reason is here urged, why God should spare and pardon the fuppliant, namely, because was he accurately to note the offences of the best men, and to produce them in judgment against the offenders, no man could ftand in that judgment, but the whole race of Adam must continue to eternity under the dominion of fin and death; which a gracious and merciful God would not permit to be the cafe. It is accordingly declared in the next verse, that measures had been taken to prevent fo deplorable a catastrophe. 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayeft be feared.

True repentance is founded upon the fenfe of our own wretchednefs, and faith in the divine mercy. Without the former, we fhould never feek for par

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don and grace; without the latter, we fhould defpair of finding them. The Pfalmift, therefore, having in the three preceding verses, expreffed the one, now maketh profeffion of the other. "There is for"giveness with thee;" thou wilt not "mark iniqui

ties," or leave us to the rigours of ftrict juftice, but thou haft devifed means that we perish not for ever: thou haft provided an atonement, and in virtue of that atonement, the finner may obtain pardon; he need not, therefore, reject thy fervice, and caft himself away in despair, but is encouraged to ferve thee acceptably through faith, with godly fear; "there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayeft be "feared." Or the meaning may be, Thou forgiveft man, that fo, being reftored to thy favour, and endued with thy grace, he may thenceforth fear, or ferve thee, as it becomes one, who hath obtained mercy, to do.

5. I wait for the LORD, my foul doth wait, und in his word do I hope 6. My foul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning: 1 fay, more than they that watch for the morning.

The repetitions here do beautifully exprefs that ardent defire which the contrite foul hath for the falvation of God. Dr. Hammond feemeth to have given the true conftruction of ver. 6.

“My "foul to the Lord, that is, rifeth, cometh, or haften"eth to the Lord, paw from the morning "watches, that is, from the time when they haften "to their watches, in other words, the guards every "morning that haften to their watches, are not earlier "than I am in my daily addreffes to God. Who

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"these watchers or guards of the morning are, the "Chaldee hath beft expreffed: They that obferve "the morning watches, that they may offer their morning oblation, that is, the priests which in "their turns officiated; or rather, fome officers of "theirs, which were peculiarly appointed from a "tower to expect the first appearance of break of day." With fuch earnestness did the ancient church expect the appearance of that day fpring from on high, which was, in the fulness of time, to visit the world. With equal earnestnefs have the faithful fince looked out for the dawning of that laft morning, which is to abolish fin, and put an end to forrow.

7. Let Ifrael hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8. And he shall redeem Ifrael from all his iniquities, or fins.

These verses are perfectly evangelical. The church of Ifrael was exhorted to "hope" in Jehovah, because with him there was " mercy, and plenteous re"demption." And of what nature was that redemption? A redemption from fin; "he fhall redeem "Ifrael from all his SINS;" confequently, from all trouble and mifery, which are but the effects of fin, and will ceafe when their cause fhall be finally taken away. Now what is this, but the Gospel itself? Or where is the difference between this of the Psalmist, "He fhall redeem Ifrael from all his fins," and that of the Evangelift, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, JESUS, "for he shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS?" Matt. i. 21. The Ifrael of God, or church universal, hoping" in the fame "mercy" and the fame " plen

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"teous redemption," expecteth the full accomplishment of this gracious promife, at the second advent of her Saviour, when the penalty of fin fhall be taken off, and death be fwallowed up in victory.

PSALM CXXXI.

ARGUMENT.

This Pfalm containeth 1, 2. a defcription of true humility, and refignation to the will of God, with 3. an exhortation to the practice thereof. It is, moft probably, a Pfalm of David, and is eminently applicable to Messiah, in his state of humiliation on earth. Happy would it be for the world, if all his difciples could imbibe the spirit of this short but lovely Pfalm, and copy after the example which it fetteth before them.

1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercife myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

Pride beginneth in the "heart," and difcovereth itfelf in the " eyes," the countenance, and the carriage; thinking nothing "too high for it," it is always aiming at ftill "great matters," scheming to be at the top of earthly grandeur; and when there, restless because it can go no further. Of this difpofition the Son of David, like his father and reprefentative of old, was by his enemies affirmed to be;

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