of appeal, and though they must of necessity have all the force of interim acts, yet they are all, small and great, standing over for review, awaiting the arrival of the Supreme Judge and the decision of the highest Court, from which there is no appeal, whether confirming or reversing the proceedings of earthly judges, and all whose sentences are according to righteousness and truth.

All along God has been reminding the kings and judges of the earth of the tenure by which they hold office, under Him, and of the appeal which lies to Him from all their proceedings, even in the case of the poorest and most helpless. All along He has been giving them instructions how to rule for Him, how to govern the earth in the absence of His Son, how to care for those over whom He has set them. So that they are without excuse if they oppress or misgovern, or forget by whom and for whom they reign. But as the world grows older, and as the tenure of their office is drawing to its close, He multiplies these instructions and warnings. For He sees that they are ruling for self, not for his Son; for self, not for the people whom He has intrusted to their care. Hence those Psalms which refer so specially to the state of the world in the last days, just before the Advent, take up this subject and abound with special messages to the princes of the earth. God would not have them unwarned. He would not overtake them by surprise. And He sends to them their particular instructions, telling them the things he expected of them; telling them His disappointment in finding His world misgoverned and ruined, and giving them final warning ere He sends the Supreme Judge, who is to set them all aside, to review all their proceedings, to re-judge all their judgments, nay, to set in judgment upon themselves.

In the present day these messages to princes come with peculiar power. God is now putting earth's rulers upon their last trial; and by His shaking of their thrones He is reminding them of the coming reckoning. For the last twenty years God has been specially speaking to rulers. His voice has rung through Europe as a word of solemn warning. Every event has spoken to them with a plainness not to be misinterpreted or turned aside. It is as if now for the last time He were calling their attention to His written instructions in His Word, that they may repent and amend, and save their own souls, if it be too late to save their kingdoms. Daniel's message to the king of Babylon is now God's message to the potentates of Europe,-" Wherefore, O king,

let my counsel be acceptable to thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity." And surely the events of the last two years, crowding upon each other in dread confusion, have had this as their solemn and most special burden.

And now, O kings, be wise!

Be corrected, O judges of the earth!

Serve Jehovah with fear,

And rejoice with trembling!

Kiss ye the Son!*

Lest He be angry and ye perish from the way;
For in a little shall his anger kindle!

Blessed all they that trust in Him!

But there is one of these "burdens of princes" that we would now call attention to more particularly, as from first to last it is entirely addressed to the rulers of the earth. We mean the eighty-second Psalm. That Psalm sets forth to us God's watchfulness over the earth and all that it contains. His eye is both upon rulers and ruled, the judges and the judged. He looks for judgment, but behold oppression; He listens to hear what sounds may be coming up from its inhabitants, but He hears only a cry, the cry of the afflicted and the misruled. He then summons his vicegerents whom He has set in power, and utters his displeasure against the injustice taking place, and his determination to bring it to an end. Then He lets us see his ultimate design in reference to the earth, viz., to supplant and supersede these unfaithful judges, to introduce His own faithful and righteous King,-to give Him the heathen for his heritage, the whole earth for his possession.

We divide the Psalm into the following parts:

1. THE SCENE.

Verse 1. God is standing in the assembly of God.
In the midst of the gods he will judge.

* It is curious to observe that here the Septuagint reads Spaέaσbe Taideías, "receive instruction," instead of "kiss the Son." The Vulgate has "apprehendite disciplinam;" but Jerome lets us know that the Greek here is at variance with the Hebrew. Augustine's remark is, "intelligite et erudimini," for he follows the Vulgate without adverting to the difference, as he was no Hebrew scholar.

He summons his representatives, who, because they are his representatives (" a divine sentence is in the lips of the king," Prov. xvi. 10), are called "gods." He gathers them together into one august assembly that He may speak with them face to face. He takes his place in the midst of them, and calls them to account for the exercise of their vicegerency; for He hears that there has been a mal-administration of power, an abuse of office. He demands a reckoning for their stewardship, for the cry has gone up to Him that all has been mismanagement and wrong. He appears among them as "He by whom kings reign and princes decree judgment," as the Sovereign among his vassals, as Prince of the kings of the earth, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Such is the way in which God deals with those whom He calls gods, and to whom, in the absence of his Son, He has intrusted the government of the earth, to see if it be possible that they can rule it. And while these words give forth an admonitory message to princes, they have something to say also to the subject. They say, "be subject to the powers that be;" "speak no evil of dignities;" abjure the irreverent, disloyal, insubordinate, rebellious, murmuring spirit of the times. Stand aloof from those who seek to undermine authority. Beware of the leaven that is abroad, decomposing, equalizing, overturning every thing in the State. Learn God's order of the world, that it is a kingdom, not a republic, that is His model; and that it is for teaching us what He is ere long to establish on the earth that He has set up and still keeps up those earthly types of dignity, authority, and honour. Learn that the source of power is neither in kings nor people, but in Him who standeth in the assembly of God, and judgeth among the gods.

II. THE EXPOSTULATION.

Verse 2. How long will ye judge in iniquity,

And the faces of the wicked will ye lift up?

He has heard the sighing of the needy. It has gone up into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. He has heard the pleading of the injured widow-" Avenge me of mine adversary." He has marked the injustice, the partiality, the preference of the ungodly. (See Isaiah i. 21-23; v. 7-23; x. 1, 2.) And now his forbearance is well-nigh exhausted. He cannot tolerate much longer this sad misrule. He must interpose. "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing

of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him." But before doing so He gives one warning more. He will try what expostulation will do; for He is most unwilling to smite. He is full of compassion, even to the most stubborn and high-minded. He would fain give these rulers a little longer time to repent, that they may be saved from the overflowing judgments which are ready to burst upon their thrones. He pities nations; He pities kings; He is long-suffering and slow to anger, of great kindness, and it repenteth Him of the evil.

III.- -THE EXHORTATION.

Verses 3 and 4. Judge ye the poor one and the orphan;
The afflicted ones and the needy ones do justice to;
Deliver the poor one and the oppressed one;

From the hand of the wicked ones deliver them.

Thus He admonishes and exhorts the great congregation of the assembled princes, reminding them of the end for which they had been set on thrones, and calling on them to consider that end and fulfil it. It is not for personal honour that they have been raised up; it is not for the enjoyment of courtly pomp and splendour that they have gotten a place and a name above the rest of their fellows; it is not for the indulgence of their lusts, or the gratification of their wills, or for larger opportunities of getting vent to their capricious selfishness, that they have been intrusted with earth's gold and arrayed in the world's purple. It is for the administration of laws, for the upholding of order, for secur

* Some of our readers may perhaps remember here the great poet's enumeration of

"the king-becoming graces,
As justice, verity, temp'rance, stableness,
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude."

And Seneca (Medea) :—

"hoc reges habent

Magnificum et ingens, nulla quod rapiat dies,
Prodesse miseris, supplices fido lare
Protegere."

And Claudian:

"Tu civem, patremque geras; tu consule cunctis
Non tibi; nec tua te moveant, sed publica vota."

ing equity and righteousness, for the restraint of man's boundless selfishness, for the protection of the weak against the strong, the few against the many, that they have been constituted God's representatives. Such is the design of their office; the end for which God has placed the crown upon their head, and the sceptre in their hands. But He sees that they forget this; that, instead of fulfilling their high calling, they are taking their pleasure, standing aloof from their fellow-men, aggrandizing themselves, nay, using their power for unrighteousness, and turning their sceptre into an iron rod. Seeing all this He summons them, and comes into the midst. He lifts up his voice and calls on them to remember their office, just as He has of late been so solemnly doing to the sovereigns of Europe. "Have you fulfilled your office? Have you used your power aright? Have you remembered me in using it? Have you remembered the poor and needy, the afflicted and the fatherless?" What answer can the world's princes give? The exhortation may be the last they are to receive ere the iron rod of the avenging Judge comes down upon them, crushing them to pieces, crumbling their thrones, and making their kingdoms like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor.

IV. THE REFUSAL.

Verse 5. They have not known, and they will not understand; In darkness they will walk !

No voice of warning can pierce their ear. They are as the deaf adder. Intent on pleasure, bent on selfish indulgences, pursuing ambition, delighting in pomp, carrying out their own capricious wills, they will not listen to reproof, though it comes not from their subjects but from their Sovereign, not from man but from God. Their proceedings all along have been marked by ignorance, blindness, folly; and in this they persist. They hate the light, they love unrighteousness; they will not learn. Security has taught them nothing in time past; insecurity is teaching them nothing still. Prosperity has taught them nothing; adversity is equally unavailing. Neither mercy nor judgment reaches them. They close both eyes and ears. They have not known, neither will they understand." Some exceptions there have been to this;-brighter gleams in this dark scene of sad history. In some respects our own land stands out as a noble exception. With all its ills, and faults, and misgovernment, there is

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