-not a paper-knife does it employ, but an axe, and that not to some extreme branch of the human tree, but to the root. It says, "Repent"-and that means change. It says not merely-"Be decently and orderly people, and don't go to excesses; cultivate a respectable form of religion-but it says "Ye must be born again;" your very thoughts must be brought to run in a new and deeper channel; the affections your heart must be set on a new object, or "ye cannot see the kingdom of God."

of

My brethren, there has been One among us who has left us in no perplexity about what is meant by the kingdom of God, what are its laws, what its power. One there has been who has shown us what are the true principles of life, what is the order of his kingdom, and He is by his Spirit working within us still to bring us into conformity with the order which he has established. There is one great reason for all that is terrible and saddening and perplexing in life-this reason

-men have departed, and are departing from the order which is in Christ Jesus. I mean, that they are living contrary to his laws. By their sins and their selfishness men are doing what they can to darken the light which he has shed upon life-to confound and confuse what he has made plain -to crook what he has made straight-to fritter down the majesty of the truth which he taught; to overwrap it and hide it by their own devices. But in vain-that truth will assert itself, for there is life in it more living and powerful than in anything else. And however men may try to establish a different order of life to that which Christ has brought to us, this life alone shall triumph. Christ shall be sovereign and supreme. Believe me, my friends, you may as well try to move the sun from his centre, or shake the stars from their orbits, as fight against the progress of Christ's kingdom. If you will not be a living stone in its structure, you will have to be concrete in its trenches. If you will not be a soldier in its ranks then over your dead body its ranks will advance to uni

versal conquest. Command the thunder to cease its bellowing; bid the lightning rest in its cloud-bed; bid Time's chariot to roll back its wheels; command the sea to rest from its raging; change if you can the laws of gravitation and attraction; bid the forces of the universe be quiet; as well do this as oppose the onward march of this kingdom. Progress it will-you may progress with it, and be great in it if you will, but if you will not, then progress it will in spite of you, for Omnipotence pulses at its heart, and the dog barking at the moon is not so ridiculous a sight as you attempting to stem the torrent of spiritual force which this kingdom contains. I invite you to a better mind; to pray for the visible dominancy of this kingdom-I invite you to throw into its forces the little force which you possess, you may help it on. God will honour you by making you able, but you cannot oppose it, except to your own destruction. "Repent, for the kingdom. of heaven is at hand." "Now is the accepted time," &c. "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Doth his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till suns shall rise to set no more."

London.

R. T., M.A.

KINGDOM OF GRACE AND GLORY.

These two kingdoms of grace and glory differ not specifically, but gradually; they differ not in nature, but only in degree. The kingdom of grace is nothing but the incohation or beginning of the kingdom of glory; the kingdom of grace is glory in the seed, and the kingdom of glory is grace in the flower; the kingdom of grace is glory in the daybreak, and the kingdom of glory is grace in the full meridian; the kingdom of grace is glory militant, and the kingdom of glory is grace triumphant. There is such an inseparable connection between these two kingdoms, grace and glory, that there is no passing into the one kingdom but by the other. At Athens there were two temples, a temple of virtue and a temple of honour; and there was no going into the temple of honour but through the temple of virtue; so the kingdoms of glory and grace are so joined together that we cannot go into the kingdom of glory but through the kingdom of grace. Many people aspire after the kingdom of glory, but never look after grace: but these two, which God hath joined together, may not be put asunder; the kingdom of grace leads to the kingdom of glory.-T. WATSON.

Homiletic Sketches on the Book of Psalms.

OUR PURPOSE.-Many learned and devout men have gone philologically through this TEHILIM, this book of Hebrew hymns, and have left us the rich results of their inquiries in volumes within the reach of every Biblical student. To do the mere verbal hermeneutics of this book, even as well as it has been done, would be to contribute nothing fresh in the way of evoking or enforcing its Divine ideas. A thorough HOMILETIC treatment it has never yet received, and to this work we here commit ourselves, determining to employ the best results of modern Biblical scholarship.

OUR METHOD.-Our plan of treatment will comprise four sections :-(1.) The HISTORY of the passage. Lyric poetry, which the book is, is a delineation of living character, and the key, therefore, to unlock the meaning and reach the spirit of the words, is a knowledge of the men and circumstances that the poet sketches with his lyric pencil. (2.) ANNOTATIONS of the passage. This will include short explanatory notes on any ambiguous word, phrase, or allusion that may occur.-(3.) The ARGUMENT of the passage. A knowledge of the main drift of an author is amongst the most essential conditions for interpreting his meaning.—(4.) The HOMILETICS of the passage. This is our main work. We shall endeavour so to group the Divine ideas that have been legitimately educed, as to suggest such thoughts, and indicate such sermonizing methods, as may promote the proficiency of modern pulpit ministrations.

SUBJECT: The Past Conquests and the Future Struggles of the Good.

"I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvellous works.

I will be glad and rejoice in thee:

I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.
When mine enemies are turned back,

They shall fall and perish at thy presence.

For thou hast maintained my right and my cause ;
Thou satest in the throne judging right.

Thou hast rebuked the heathen,

Thou hast destroyed the wicked,

Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end,

And thou hast destroyed cities;

Their memorial is perished with them.

But the Lord shall endure for ever:

He hath prepared his throne for judgment,

And he shall judge the world in righteousness,

He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,

A refuge in times of trouble.

And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:
For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion:
Declare among the people his doings.

When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them;
He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord;

Consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me,

Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;

That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion;

I will rejoice in thy salvation.

The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made:

In the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth :

The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion.

Selah.

The wicked shall be turned into hell,

And all the nations that forget God.

For the needy shall not alway be forgotten:

The expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.

Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail;

Let the heathen be judged in thy sight.

Put them in fear, O Lord:

That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.”

Psa. ix.

HISTORY.-Whilst it is generally acknowledged that David was the author of this psalm, a great variety of opinions prevails as to the occasion of its composition. Some suppose that it was composed on the death of some one whom the writer had slain, such as Goliath of Gath, or some foreign king. Others suppose that it was occasioned by the victory over Absalom, and the suppression of the rebellion by his death. Others imagine that it was in celebration of some victory over the Philistines by David. Whilst others think that it originated with some great deliverance, such as the overthrow of the Babylonian empire by Cyrus, or the defeat of Haman's plot. All this diversity of opinion shows that the period and circumstance of its origin must remain in doubt. The psalm, however, shows that it was composed in view of enemies; that the enemies were foreign; called heathen; that they were invaders, they "destroyed cities; and that they were partially conquered, for the victory is celebrated in various verses.

ANNOTATIONS.- -" To the chief musician upon Muthlabben." "Some take 'labben' in this title as an anagram of Nabal, and read it on the death of the fool. (See 1 Sam. xxv. 25.) Others, slightly changing the Hebrew vowels, suppose the former part of the clause to denote female voices, or soprano; and the latter to mean for Ben, or (the children of) Ben, a Levitical singer mentioned in 1 Chron. xv. 18. But it is most likely that Muth-labben' is the title of another poem, to the tune of which this psalm was composed; just as, in 2 Sam. i. 18, a poem is referred to

which was known by the name of the Bow.' Thus it would mean, according to the song, Muthlabben." "When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence." The first two verses need no comment. The expression "turned back,” used in relation to his enemies, means their overthrow, and the idea of the whole verse is that when my enemies are overthrown, they perish," and they perish because of thy "presence;" conquest is of Thee.

"For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right." Here, again, the idea is that his victory over his enemies, which was a righteous one, is of God; and that God gave him the victory because he determined his cause to be a right one, "Thou satest in the throne judging right." "Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever." "Heathen "" means a foreign enemy, either an individual or a nation. David, in this verse, describes how God had treated this enemy, which was "wicked." (1.) He was rebuked, not merely by words, but by chastisements. (2.) Then he was destroyed; destroyed as completely as the impious Goliath was destroyed. (3.) The extinction of his name. "Thou hast put out their name for ever and ever." No more a position or a name amongst men. "O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end; and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them." This is not to be regarded as an apostrophe to the enemy, but rather as indicating the writer's state of mind as he meditated on the fact that his enemy, which had “ destroyed cities," &c., and therefore a powerful one, would be no more engaged in laying cities and towns in ruins. It means, my enemy has finished his devastations for ever.

"But the Lord shall endure for ever; he hath prepared his throne for judgment," &c. (Vers. 7-10.) These verses require no special comment, their meaning is plain. Utterances very similar to them are frequent from the pen of the writer. We have noticed some of them before, and shall have frequent occasion to do so again.

Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion; declare among the people his doings." At the memory of God's merciful interposition, the writer breaks into an exultant song of praise. Which dwelleth in Zion." "Zion" at this time was the place where the tabernacle was set up, and the worship of God was celebrated, hence it was spoken of as his dwelling-place; there he made special manifestations of himself.

"When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them; he forgetteth not the cry of the humble." "God is here revealed in the character which He assumes in Gen. ix. 5, where the same verb and noun are used in the first clause of the verse before us. The word translated blood,' is in the plural form. Hence the literal translation of the next word is, he has remembered them, i.e., the bloods or murders. The cry meant, is the cry of suffering and complaint with particular reference. (Gen. iv. 10.) According to another reading of the last clause, the cry is that of the