2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

A father's piety derives the benediction of Heaven upon his children. The posterity of faithful Abraham were often spared and favoured on account of their progenitor; as the whole family of believers, Abraham and all, are blessed in Him who is the great Father of that family, and the Author of their salvation.

3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

It sometimes pleaseth God to bestow on his servants, as he did on Israel of old, the good things of this world. And a rich man is therefore happier than a poor man, because it is more blessed to give than to receive.' Acts, xx. 35. But the true 'wealth' of Christians is of another kind; their riches' are such as neither moth can corrupt, nor thief steal. Grace and glory are in the 'house' of Christ, and everlasting righteousness' is the portion of his children.

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4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness; he is gracious and full of compassion, and righteous.

While we are on earth, we are subject to a threefold darkness;' the darkness of error, the darkness of sorrow, and the darkness of death. To dispel these, God visiteth us, by his word, with a threefoldlight;' the light of truth, the light of comfort, and the light of life. The Christian's temper is framed after the pattern of this Master; and he is ever ready to show to others that 'love' and mercy' which have been shown to him.

5. A good man showeth favour and lendeth: will guide his affairs with discretion.

The former part of this verse may be rendered with a little variation, 'It is well with the man wh is gracious and communicative.' Ill-nature an avarice are their own tormentors: but love and libe rality do good to themselves by doing it to others and enjoy all the happiness which they cause. Iti not God's intention, that any of the talents whic he bestowed upon us should lie dead, but that ou brethren should have the use of them; even as Christ received the Spirit to communicate it to us and our salvation is his glory and joy. The latte part of this verse is likewise capable of a different and, indeed, a more literal translation: He will support, or maintain, his words, or his transactions, in judgment;' that is, he who thus employeth his talents for the benefit of mankind, will be able to render a good account to his Lord who intrusteth them with him.

6. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. 8. His heart is esta blished, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.

Nothing can deprive the person here described of his felicity. When his work is done, his body will go to its repose in the dust, but the 'memorial' of his name and of his good deeds will be still fresh as the morning breeze, and fragrant as the flower of the spring. He feareth no evil report, no blast of slander and malice can touch him; no

dings of calamity and destruction can shake his onfidence in God; but he will hear the trump of udgment, and behold the world in flames, rather with joy than with dread; as knowing, by those kens, that the hour of his redemption is come, when he shall see his enemies,' and even death, the last of them, under his feet.

9. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be xalted with honour.

His riches are not hoarded up, but 'dispersed ' abroad; and that not by others after his death, but by himself in his life-time; He hath dispersed.' They are not squandered in the ways of vanity and folly, but given to the poor;' nor are they given indiscriminately and at random, but dispersed,' like precious seed, with prudence and discretion, according to the nature of the soil, and in proper season, so as to produce the most plentiful harvest. Therefore his righteousness endureth for ever;' its fruits and its good report are lasting among men, and it is never forgotten before God, who hath prepared for it an eternal reward. His horn shall be exalted with honour, or, in glory;' whatever may be his lot upon earth, and even there the charitable man will frequently be had in honour,' at the last day, certainly, when the thrones of the mighty shall be cast down, and the sceptres of tyrants broken in pieces, then shall he lift up his head, and be exalted to partake of the glory' of his Redeemer, the author of his faith, and the pattern of his charity, who gave himself for us, and is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.

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 sight of Christ in glory, with his saints, will, in an inexpressible manner, torment the crucifiers of the one, and the persecutors of the others; as it will show them the hopes and wishes of their adversaries all granted to the full, and all their own ' desires' and designs for ever at an end; it will excite an envy which must prey upon itself, produce a grief which can admit of no comfort, give birth to a worm which can never die, and blow up those fires which nothing can quench.

PSALM CXIII.

ARGUMENT.-The servants of God are, 1. exhorted to praise his name, 2. at all times, and, 3. in all places, on account, 4, 5. of his power and glory, 6-8. of his mercy in redeeming man, and, 9. making the Gentile church to be a joyful mother of children. This Psalm is appointed to be read on Easter-day.

1. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. 2. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth, and for evermore.

Christians are the servants' of Jesus Christ; and a most delightful part of their service it is, to ' praise' his holy and saving 'name' in the church, which now useth this Psalm among others, and with it blesseth the name' of her Lord and Saviour, from age to age. The Psalmist wished and prayed that this might be done, and he foresaw that it would be done, while the world should

last, upon earth, and afterwards' for evermore' in heaven.

3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised; or, is praised. 4. The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

At the diffusion of the gospel through the world, the name of Christ was praised from the east to the west,' in churches everywhere planted by the apostles and their successors: and the grand subjects of joy and triumph among believers were, the superiority of their Master over the heathen nations' and their idols; the exaltation of his glory above the heavens,' and all the powers therein; the might of his arm, and the majesty of his kingdom.

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5. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high? 6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in earth.

Highly as our Lord is exalted above this system, above these heavens and this earth of ours, yet he condescendeth to regard every thing that passeth here, and to make us, the inhabitants of this lower world, and, for our sakes, all the other creatures in it, the objects of his peculiar care and paternal love.

7. He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

Such is his mercy to the poor sons of Adam in their fallen estate, that from the lowest and most abject condition, from the pollutions of sin and