congenial sanctity. As a man plunging into the sea, takes the waves as they come dashing against him, so Christ bore the contact of the world's sin, as it swept in its force upon Him. "He bore our sins in His own body on the tree." How otherwise could He save the world? Nor does He pray that His followers should be spared the same stern battle with evil. Here, in the the midst of falsehood, mammon-worship, artificiality, vice, He would have us stay awhile and follow Him in His "regeneration." The holier a man is, the more is he needed in the world. The man who is ripe for heaven, is the man who is fitted for earth. Holiness is not only meetness for the future, it is also meetness for work and conflict here. The want of the world is Christlike men, and no man is too good for the world. He who sighs to be taken away from the sphere of Christian action and duty, before the day of life is over, prays as Christ could not pray. Said He, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world." II. THE LIFE WHICH CHRIST CHOOSES FOR HIS DISCIPLES. "Keep them from the evil." There is not to be outward separation from toil and trouble and work and peril, and yet there is to be a very real inward separation from the evil of the world. Every phase of human life has its moral dangers, from which Christ would have us Divinely kept. The OUTWARD life is to be holy, beautiful, unspotted. The disciple is to be the salt of the earth," himself pure and purifying others by his influence. As in the old story the Hebrew children were unharmed in the furnace, and not even the smell of fire had passed upon them, so Christ would have His followers go through the world unharmed, and without even the trace of evil upon them. And more than this. A man is only kept from evil as his heart is still right and sound in its motives, its thoughts, its emotions, its desires. Goodness is primarily an interior, spiritual thing. That wondrous invisible world of human spirit, which only God can scanis that clean and pure? The church of Ephesus was outwardly devout, separate from the evil of the Pagan world, unblemished and zealous; but the Lord of the churches looked within, and sent by His servant the message, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." It is not enough that in the outer courts of the temple, which are seen by men, there be grace and beauty, but in the innermost shrine of all, where the highest altar stands, the Shekinah glory must dwell. This is the life that Christ sets before us. He sets it before us by the example of His own life. He sets it before us in His prayer for us. Hard, earnest, toilsome is such a life; truly a "high calling." His conception of being kept from evil is not being kept from trial, temptation, work; but from spiritual defeat and defilement. He ordains us as soldiers, and places us face to face with foes; watching us as we fight, and praying as the merciful and faithful High Priest, not that we may be taken out of the world, but "kept from the evil." Redland, Bristol. THOMAS HAMMOND. 371 The Preacher's Homiletical HOMILETIC SKETCHES ON THE BOOK OF PSALMS. OUR PURPOSE.-Many learned and devout men have gone Philologically through this TEHELIM, 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 passages. 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. No. CLVIII. Genuine Piety. "PRAISE YE THE LORD. BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT FEARETH THE LORD," &c.-Ps. cxii. 1-10. HISTORY:-This Psalm,in tone, ANNOTATIONS:-Ver. 1. "Praise ye the Lord." This is the keynote to all that follows, the happiness of genuine piety. Ver. 2.-" His seed shall be mighty upon earth," &c. "A blessing of the old covenant. The seed of the righteous attains to opulence and to heroic fame, which commonly seems the reward of violence and ambition. The same phrase is used of Nimrod (Gen. x. 8), a similar one of Boaz" (Ruth ii. 1).--Canon Cooke. " Ver. 3.- "Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever." "It seems, says Perowne, "a bold thing to say this of anything human, and yet it is true for all human righteousness has its root in the righteousness of God. It is not merely man striving to copy God. It is God's gift and God's work. There is a living connection between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man, and therefore the imperishableness of the one appertains to the other also. Hence the same thing is affirmed here of the human righteousness which, in ch. xi.3 is affirmed of the Divine." Ver. 4." Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." Calamity is darkness, and into it even the genuinely good are not unfrequently thrown, but on such light not unfrequently arises the light of intelligence, confidence, and hope." He is gracious, and full of compassion and. righteous." Who? The Almighty? It applies pre-eminently to Him, but the good man is here meant. The good man is gracious, full of compassion, &c. He is so because he is in vital connection with the Fountain of all good. Ver. 5.-" A good man showeth favour, and lendeth." Or rather, good is the man who showeth favour, or blessed is the man. "He will guide his affairs with discretion." "Blessed is he who giveth and lendeth, in the judgment doth he maintain his cause." Delitzsch. Ver. 6.-"Surely he shall not be moved for ever; the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." He shall hold on his way firmly, and his name shall be an everlasting memorial of the advantages of spiritual good ness. Ver. 7, 8.-"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord," &c. His heart is fixed, centred in Almighty love and wisdom, he is raised above all fear. Ver. 9." He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor: his righteousness endureth for ever," &c. Paul's language is a commentary on this. "That ye always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work, as it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth for ever" (2 Cor. ix. 8, 9). Ver. 10.- "The wicked shall see it, and be grieved: he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked shall perish." The wicked see that prosperity, which they desire should pass away, increase more and more: and they, with their wicked desires, gnash their teeth, melt away, and perish."-Canon Cooke. ARGUMENT: "This Psalm be gins precisely where the one before ends, i.e., with the happiness arising from the fear of God (ver. 1), the blessed effects of which are then recounted under several particulars (ver. 2-9), and finally contrasted with the fate of the ungodly" (ver, 10). -Alexander. HOMILETICS.-The subject of the Psalm is genuine piety, its characteristics and its advantages. There I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF GENUINE PIETY. are several expressions in this Psalm employed to represent a truly good man. (1) He "feareth the Lord." What does this mean? (See our remarks on the last verse of the preceding Psalm). (2) He "delighteth greatly in His commandments." Most ignore the commandments of God, some dread the commandments of God, some formally respect the commandments of God. In opposition to all this it is said the good man" delighteth greatly in His commandments." He finds his heaven in them. "I will run in the way of Thy commandments, for Thou dost enlarge my heart." (3) He is upright. "Unto the upright there ariseth light." He is morally erect. He does not bow or yield to wrong in any direction. An upright man is one who is strong in goodness. He does not lean on one side or another, he does not like a man. (4) He is merciful. totter, he stands up "Full of compas |