In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me;

He shall set me upon a rock.

And now shall mine head be lifted up

Above mine enemies round about me:

Therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord."-Ps. xxvii. 1-6. HISTORY.-This Psalm is entitled a "Psalm of David," and there is no reason for supposing that he was not its author. It is Davidic in spirit and in style. The occasion of its composition is a matter, as yet, of pure speculation. Some say it was written at his first inauguration as king (2 Sam. ii. 4); others, that it was on the occasion of his last anointing (2 Sam. v. 3); others, that it was composed after his deliverance from death by Abishai (2 Sam. xxi. 16); and others, with, I think, greater probability, after Jonathan came to visit him in the wood, and strengthened his hand in God (1 Sam. xxiii. 16.) “All attempts," says Hengstenberg, "to find out any occasion to which the Psalm especially referred have failed. And from the failure of these we may draw the inference, either that David originally uttered the Psalm from the soul of the oppressed righteous man, or that, if he wrote it in reference to a particular occasion, he generalized his own experience."

ANNOTATIONS.-Ver. 1.—" The Lord is my light and my salvation." Light and salvation express but one idea-deliverance; the one expresses it figuratively, the other literally. "Whom shall I fear?" There seems in this expression an indignant contempt of fear. What in the universe can intimidate me since God is my "light," my "salvation," and "my strength." "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Ver. 2.-" When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." It is not meant, of course, that they came literally "to eat up his flesh," but that they came upon him like savage beasts of prey to devour him. "They stumbled and fell.” This means that they fell, not I-they thought to destroy me, but they destroyed themselves. The blow they aimed at me rebounded on their own heads," and they stumbled and fell." Ver. 3.-" Though an host-that is, a multitude, an organized army— should encamp against me-should place themselves in battle arraymy heart shall not fear." I will be fearless and defiant. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." "In this"-in what? In the fact that God is "my Light," "my Salvation," and "my Strength."

Ver. 4.-"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seck after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." It would seem from this that David was a wanderer distant from the scene of public worship, and that he earnestly longed to enter the sacred precincts once more. "One thing,"-the thing that I desire more than anything else. He does not mean to dwell for ever in that

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place, but to dwell in the spirit of that place-in keeping with the character of that place in fellowship with the God of that place. The purpose of that house was fellowship with God, and to dwell in it was to enjoy permanent communion with Him. "To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." To admire and to investigate the Divine, and that for ever was his paramount desire.

Ver. 5.-" For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion : in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me." The "tabernacle" and pavilion here mean the same place the place of public worship. Perhaps there is a reference here to the fact that God sheltered Moses in the tabernacle when the people were going to stone him (Numbers xiv. 10.) It would seem as if he desired not only to be with God, but to be hidden in Him-to be absorbed, as it were, in the Divine. "He shall set me upon a rock," i.e., He shall place me upon a height inaccessible to my enemies.

Ver. 6.-"And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea I will sing unto the Lord songs of praise." Since I am safe in the innermost shrine of His house-since I am on a rock, which no billows can affect, on an altitude which no enemy can scale, I will offer sacrifices of joy. Jubilee offerings, accompanied with shouts for deliverance (Num. xxiii. 21.)

ARGUMENT.-The Psalm consists of three parts-(1.) A triumphant declaration of confidence in God. (2.) An earnest appeal in prayer to God. (3.) A general exhortation to all to wait on God.

HOMILETICS.-Homiletically the Psalm suggests four subjects for meditation-(1.) Courage in life's storms. (2.) Shelter in life's storms. (3.) Prayer in life's storms. (4.) Exhortation in life's storms. The first two are the subjects of the verses under notice, viz., courage in life's storms and shelter in life's storms.

I. COURAGE in Life's Storms. Here three things are to be observed-First, The Courage was founded on confidence in God. Why does the writer appear so fearless and defiant here? Here is the answer. He trusted in the Lord as his "Light,' his "Salvation," his "Strength." When the soul feels that God is with it, it becomes invincible; it can dare and endure all things. Secondly, The Courage was heightened by memories of past deliverances. "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." He had met with storms before, but they were hushed;

enemies had malignantly assailed him before, but they had been vanquished-and all this through God. He who had thus been with him and for him, his guide and deliverer in the past, he knew would be with him in the present and in the future too. Memory of past mercies strengthens our faith in future supplies. If God has done so much for us in the past, we may safely argue that He will do as much in the time to come. Thirdly: The Courage defied all future enemies. "Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident." He who had been with him in the past would be with him in the future. What had he, therefore, to fear? He awaited coming tempests, even the most furious, with a triumphant confidence. Oh, for this courage of soulcourage based upon confidence in God, courage based upon the memory of past goodness, courage facing the mysterious future with a jubilant soul.

II. SHELTER in Life's Storms. Four things are observable here. First: The scene where the shelter was sought. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord." God has ever had on this earth places where He has specially manifested Himself; at the "burning bush," under "the cloudy pillar," in the tabernacle and the temple, and now in Christian churches, where His name is recorded. As the place where God was specially manifested in David's time, he looked to the tabernacle. Scenes of public worship are the places to be sought in times of special trouble. Secondly: The means by which the shelter is to be secured. "That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." (1.) Dwelling with God; entering the inmost shrine, where the Eternal received His friends. Communion with God is the means of soul-shelter. (2.) Delighting in God. "To behold the beauty of the Lord"to gaze upon His perfections, to be ravished with His glory. (3.) Inquiring after God. "To inquire in His temple." The investigating intellect employed in conducting the soul nearer and nearer still to the presence of the Eternal Father.

Thirdly: The source from which the shelter is derived.

The place resorted to, and the means employed, are rendered effectual by God Himself. "In the midst of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock." "The Lord is my sun and my shield," &c. Fourthly: The spirit in which the shelter is accepted. It is the spirit of confidence. "Now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies around about me." It is the spirit of triumphant praise. "Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord."

CONCLUSION: Trust in God intelligently, heartily, entirely, and permanently: and what then have we to fear? Who can move us when we are on the immoveable and incorruptible rock? What storm can reach us when we are in the innermost shrine in the Temple of Eternal Peace?

A Homiletic Glance at the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians.

The student is requested to keep in mind the following things, which will throw much light upon the Epistle. First: The circumstances of the writer when he wrote. He was a prisoner in Rome. During his residence there, in "his own hired house" (Acts xxviii. 30, 31), from the spring A.D. 61 to 63, he wrote the Epistles to the Colossians, Philippians, Philemon, and to the Ephesians. It is generally supposed that this Epistle to the Ephesians was the first he wrote during his imprisonment. Secondly: The circumstances of the persons addressed. They lived, it is thought, in Ephesus, an illustrious city in the district of Iona, nearly opposite the Island of Samos, and about the middle of the western coast of the peninsula commonly called Asia Minor. It had attained in Paul's day such a distinction as in popular estimation to be identified with the whole of the Roman province of Asia. It was the centre of the worship of the great goddess Diana. Paul resided here on two different occasions. The first, A.D. 54, for a very short period (Acts xviii. 19-21); the second, for a period of more than two years. The persons therefore addressed in this letter are those whom he had converted from paganism, and in whom he felt all the interest of a spiritual father. Thirdly: The purpose of the letter. The aim of the Epistle seems to be to set forth the origin and development of the Church of Christ, and to impress those Ephesian Christians, who lived under the shadow of the great temple of Diana, with the unity and beauty of a temple transcendently more glorious. For the minute critical exegesis of this apostolic encyclical, we direct our readers to the commentaries of Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, Jowett, Harless, Stier, Eadie, Hodge, and last, though not least, Ellicott. Our aim will be to draw out, classify, and set in homiletic order, the Divine ideas reached by the critical aid of such distinguished scholars.

Subject: TYPES OF TRANSCENDENT VIRTUES.

"But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to

you all things: Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen." Eph. vi. 21-24.

ANNOTATIONS.-Ver. 21.-" That ye also may know my affairs and how I do." This means, that ye may understand my condition, my feelings, and all concerning me, in which you feel an interest, "How I do,"-how I fare. Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things." From other passages (see Acts xx. 4, Col. iv. 7; 2 Tim. iv. 12; Titus iii. 12) we learn that this Tychicus was of Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was the capital; that he was the bearer of the letter to the Church at Colosse, and probably of the second Epistle to Timothy, and that Paul proposed sending him to Crete to succeed Titus. Paul here calls him "a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord." He was high in Paul's confidence. When, or where, or how, he was converted, are points on which we have no information: nor do we know why he was now at Rome. In Paul's days there were no postal arrangements, no telegraphic agencies by which to send communications to those at a distance, hence, Paul had to employ letter-carriers,-Tychicus was one.

Ver. 22.-" Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs." "Our affairs:' All those things referring to us personally and apostolically in which you are deeply interested. "And that he might comfort your hearts." How? Probably by reading and interpreting the Divine Epistle of which he was the bearer.

Ver. 23.-" Peace be to the brethren." This is the usual form of benediction. See Matt. x. 13; Luke xxiv. 36; Rom. xv. 33; Gal. vi. 16; 1 Peter v. 14; 3 John 14. "Love with faith." Love united to faith; he wished for them that faith that worketh by love. "From God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." The Father and the Son are here united as the objects of worship and the source of all spiritual blessings.

Ver. 24.-" Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." The word sincerity is in the margin, "incorruption;" and this seems to be more true to the original. It means in all honesty and truthfulness, without any dissembling or hypocrisy.

HOMILETICS.-In these verses we have three types of transcendent virtues-a type of elevated friendship, a type of spiritual benevolence, and a type of Christian catholicity.

I. A type of ELEVATED FRIENDSHIP. Paul here does three things which show the purity and the worth of his friendship.